It started, as all great midlife crises do, with an impulse purchase on the internet. While some men my age are out buying motorcycles or taking up CrossFit, I went in a different direction: I bought a bird feeder with a camera. A state-of-the-art, live-streaming marvel that now sits in my backyard, capturing footage of tiny winged creatures, scarfing seed like they just emerged from an intermittent fasting regimen.
This was not my first old man hobby. I’m not going to get into my attempts at martial arts, model building, running, or bonsai.
But birdwatching has been particularly enjoyable. Birds are… (put on earmuffs, 16-year-old Brian) …kinda cool. They aren’t like us. They’re little dinosaurs that can fly. Their colors can be shockingly vibrant. They may as well be visitors from another planet.
And if you’re into collecting things, birdwatching is basically collecting real-life pokemon.
Luckily, I live in Texas, which is basically a birding paradise. Texas is easily one of the best states to see birds in the continental U.S., according to Yvette Stewart of Audubon Texas.
“We have confirmed sightings of 680 species in (Texas),” she told me. “Texas offers a huge geographical range with a beautiful mix of ecosystems which supports the wide diversity of species found throughout the seasons. Our incredible shoreline and the Rio Grande Valley cannot be beat for their incredible birding sites.”
And if you’re a birding hipster, Texas has birds like the adorable Golden-cheeked Warbler that only breed here. Take that, other states!
Back to my feeder. The instructions told me that it may take a week for the first visitor to show up.
Mine only took a few hours. He was a cardinal. A bright red, majestic, glorious creature that, until this moment, I had not fully appreciated. Sure, I’d seen cardinals before — I was raised by my mom, a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan — but this was different. This cardinal had chosen my backyard, my feeder, my overpriced contraption.
Even my 6-year-old thought it was cool, saying, “This is a great way to study birds.” She was right.
Days later, a house finch appeared. A less flashy, slightly more humble bird, but I welcomed it just the same. “A house finch!” I exclaimed with the kind of joy usually reserved for a surprise tax refund.
I posted my videos to social media. My followers were into it. Or that’s what I told myself.
As birds continued to come, I found watching them to be meditative. It reminded me of my ‘80s childhood, when my parents demanded that I go play outside, which resulted in me boredly looking at birds when I wanted to be inside, watching “G.I. Joe.”
After a few weeks, I started doing my own research (don’t worry, it had nothing to do with vaccines). Because, naturally, one cannot simply observe birds without learning everything about them. I found myself deep in the most elderly recesses of the internet, reading articles like “Common Backyard Birds of the United States” and “How to Attract Birds to Your Yard in 9 Steps.” I joined a Reddit bird-watching forum, which, in retrospect, was a step too far. Nothing humbles a man quite like excitedly posting about a cardinal only to have a veteran respond that you’ve accomplished the most basic level of bird watching.
I ignored the haters and pressed on. My excitement did not wane. Each morning, I’d check my feeder cam before even considering looking at my emails. My conversations at dinner started shifting in the direction of, “Did you know that house finches were originally only found in the western United States before they were sold as cage birds and then released into the wild?”
I’m not the only one to take up this hobby.
A lot of people seek the tranquility of walking and listening for birds, especially in our busy culture, Stewart told me.
Birds are visually stunning, she said. And they’re easy to find.
“They’re literally on every continent and in every major city in the world,” she said.
Now you might be wondering, wait, aren’t we supposed to be taking down our bird feeders because of the bird flu thing? Glad you asked.
I checked with Stewart to make sure I wasn’t being irresponsible. She responded in my favorite way: by telling me I was right.
“It is safe for people to have feeders out if they do not have poultry,” she said, meaning people who don’t own domestic or backyard chickens can feel free to feed away.
So go forth and watch birds. Now if you’ll excuse me, I just got a notification of a new visitor: a Carolina Wren.
I can’t wait to spend way too much money on binoculars.
Brian’s Top 10 Coolest Texas Birds:
