Do other people talk to birds when they're out and about?

[BriansTail]

Like blackbirds, robins, bluetits etc? Obviously always wave at magpies.

I was walking back from the shop today, headphones on, walked past a blackbird pair and just generally said hey guys how's it going, and did a little whistle. As I usually do. A man walking his dog overtakes me and looks into my face saying hello, in a questioning way, looking a bit concerned as if I'm barmy.

Do other people not say hi to birds? Same with random cats, squirrels etc?

Aah this is very cute. When dd was little I used to make up voices for the birds on the way home from nursery and make up little stories so we still see crows and say hello Mr and Mrs Ravensbourne etc
I talk to my cat if that helps

I do, but to all the animals.😁

Yes of course, would be very rude not too. Though not the ones flying (that would be bad etiquette). I do name them ("Hello Mr Robin" or "Hello Ms Blackbird" that sort of thing). Otherwise I'd ook mad or confuse people.

Yup. I used to do door-to-door leaflet distribution and would talk to birds, cats, dogs, foxes and even spiders (in spider season).
I still do it TBH.
(Though I once got asked what I was doing as another habit of mine in early autumn was to swipe up/down/left/right with my handful of leaflets when going up a tree-lined path to check for cobwebs so I didn't put my head in one. A chap in a parked car asked if I was conducting an exorcism...)

I wave to squirrels

Yep I always talk to my little bird friends 🙂 we live close to land with lots of trees and chat to the robins that pop out for a nosy at us. We also talk to the horses if we walk past their field, and the sheep if they're close to the road. DH loves cats so he tries to make friends with the ones we see nearby. Some are more chatty than others, which is probably a good thing as we could be there all night otherwise.