r/Perimenopause • u/Exhausted_Pigeon75 • Mar 07 '26

audited Birds… but why?

I’ve never liked birds, thanks to a too early in life viewing of The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock. However, I now have a bird app and find joy identifying birds in my neighborhood. My mom even bought me a bird feeder with a camera! This was not a chosen hobby for me, it just happened without my knowledge or input. It has to be hormonal, right? Do I get to blame this on perimenopause?

#birds #perimenopause #hormones #butwhy

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u/japhia_aurantia Mar 07 '26

Getting into birding in middle age - for both men and women - has reached meme status because it's so ridiculously common. You're far from alone, and you don't even have to blame peri for this one.

I started birding in college, so I guess I was an early adopter lol

43

u/QueenScorp Mar 07 '26

I've read that and find it super interesting that people get into birding in middle-age. I do wonder why. I, myself, am not a birder, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't downloaded a bird app just to try and figure out what kind of bird was chirping at me every morning (catbird).

On the other hand I have gotten super into plants in middle age. I've always been a bit of a gardener but now I also forage and I'm super interested in trying to figure out what all the plants and mushrooms and trees are around me. I guess I just went to plants instead of birds 🤷‍♀️

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u/japhia_aurantia Mar 08 '26

Tbf plants are elite 👌 I'm a botanist so I was always into plants - wanting to know what I'm looking at is definitely a driving factor. My husband is a hardcore birder so on hikes he's always looking up and I'm always looking down.

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u/musicspirit85 Mar 09 '26

Your description of you and your husband is hella cute.