Dim star looking lights 'dancing' around erratically

Got home from work after 0600 before sunrise. Decided to Stargaze before going inside/sunrise and noticed to the west a very dim light assumed to be a star. As I watched I noticed it wasn't stationary because it was above the treeline it was easy to conclude it was slightly moving, to which I thought it was a satellite. Then it changed direction and went back. It would then move around up, down, left, and right changing speeds but stayed in the same general location. I noticed there was another one to the northwest and two more to the north, all moving in the same way as the first one. The lights were so dim they didn't appear on camera, but did seem to get brighter as the ambient light from the rising sun got brighter, so I assume they were reflecting sun light. Couldn't see them after the daylight finally got too bright. The only explanations I could think of are birds even though I can't explain how they were bright before the sun arose or why they would reflect sun light to that degree, drones flown over 3 different locations, or my eyes/brain seeing something when there was nothing.