Why do middle aged people become obsessed with birds?

[HauntedBungalow]

I have seen it many times. Onset appears to be between 40-45 and by 50 they are deep in the grip of it.

What is going on?

Why???? my 26 year old knows more about birds than I do.

I think the question should be why would someone liking birds be connected to a certain age? And why is it somehow implied to be negative?

Ageism in this post ridiculous.

My DH has always been a twitcher.

All Dc very interested.

It's the age where you realise you need to stop and look and appreciate the world around you 🤔

I was thinking that, but didn't want to say it.

Give it a few years and you'll find out!

There's a gene that switches on at 40. If you drink enough tea it becomes permanent at age 50.

I have become obsessed with a Robin who keeps visiting my garden and looking at me😂

Melin bird app is amazing. Shazam for birds.

I know what you mean

Huh. I'm suddenly obsessed with plants and rave. Am I doing this middle aged malarky wrong?

I got a bird feeder last year, does that make me old?

Maybe because when you are older you are fed up of rushing around. Finding things that slow the world down, where you can relax and be mindful.

I have been interested since a teenager. Nature is fascinating.

oh and I may or may not talk to said Robin😬

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed but I definitely am less interested in material things now I'm older and much more appreciative of the natural world around me.

I'm obsessed with plants, my eldest tells me off for buying more plants.

My kids (27 &29) have always loved birds.

The only thing I dislike about where I Iive is the lack of birds so we’re desperately trying to do our garden to attract them

Well, I have loved birds all my life - they are amazing. I took my children birdwatching from toddlers. They still come. Since they have left home I have more time and money to treat myself to bird watching trips, so maybe I have become more visible as a bird watcher since middle age, but people of all ages love birds. I work in a school with a bird watching club. I am going out with a birdwatching group this evening, and there is a wide age range in it, from teens to 80 year olds. I was birdwatching last weekend with a 19 year old guide ( and he was brilliant!)

Your post is very agist, and you also sound quite judgemental. There is nothing wrong with bird watching at any age. Birds are fascinating and beautiful

I know two really keen bird-watchers. One is 14 yrs old and the other is 27.
Maybe their special genes got activated early 🤔😂

Oh I am already there. It started innocuously enough - just one blackbird, just one handful of raisins. Now it's baths, seeds, fatballs, unsalted peanuts for the crows and I never leave the house without a small pot of bird food in my bag.

As my friends get older many of them are the same. They ones who say they aren't ... are probably lying.

It is endemic.

We stop thinking about sex, let alone having it, so we need something to fill the void.

If "my" goldfinches were in your garden, you'd be obsessed too. It's a constant power struggle as they jostle for the best perches on the feeder.

Birds are beautiful, intelligent and interesting. I have always loved birds and my two dc love them too. My son aged 11 loves going to the park and just watching the pigeons - their mating dances and cooing is hilarious. Anyone of any age who doesn’t appreciate birds is missing out!!

My dad's bird gene activated when he hit 50 and he started feeding the sparrows in the garden. Now he has several "favourite" sparrows and one or two with names who wait for him at the door every morning to feed them. He can't explain why the bird fancying kicked in when he'd previously had zero interest in birds.

I'm 33 but it's activated early for me the last couple of years. I've got a wee camera on my feeder and everything so I get little notifications through the day as I'm visited by birds. There's currently a huge chungus of a dove sat in front of the camera.

I love birds, always have! Except for a short time when I was a kid and was scared of them after watching Alfred Hitchcock's bird movie.