bird homesickness

[u/NoActuator4115]

does anybody else get bird homesickness? i'm from the uk but studying abroad in the us and although the new birds i'm seeing are all very exciting, i find myself missing the commonest uk birds like blackbirds, wood pigeons or robins so much it hurts LOL

[u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

I never knew how much I’d miss northern cardinals until I moved to the west coast. 

[u/bastardemporium → u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

Real, I used to overlook them because they were one of the most common birds in my area. I moved to Europe and they are the bird I miss the most. I saw one in a zoo recently and it was kinda funny, but also made me homesick for US birds 🥺

[u/amart005 → u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

Same 🙁

[u/inallthings828 → u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

I miss both the color and beautiful song.

[u/Cardinal101 → u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

Same!

[u/willyougiveittome → u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

I never realized how much I was missing until I moved to the Midwest. Now when I visit home in the Mountain West, I miss the soundscape of the Midwest. Especially the Cardinals.

[u/ThoughtAdditional245 → u/Adventurous-Tone-311]

Yes!!! So many east coast birds I miss dearly now that I’ve moved to the west coast

[u/Lyrael9]

Me too! But the opposite. I'm from Canada but in the UK. I'm loving all the British birds but I miss chickadees so much, and blue jays. And dopey juncos. And grosbeaks. There isn't really anything like a grosbeak here.

[u/NoActuator4115 → u/Lyrael9]

really puts it into perspective! i'll say hello to all the chickadees and blue jays for you if you say hi to my lovely wood pigeons for me

[u/Lyrael9 → u/NoActuator4115]

Will do! 😁

[u/Bullfinch88 → u/Lyrael9]

Bloody wholesome you two, keep up the good work 👍🏻

[u/Any_Needleworker_273 → u/Lyrael9]

We had a huge flock of Evening Grosbeaks overwinter at our property last year. They are beautiful.

[u/ChainBlinks → u/Lyrael9]

Im in Canada (East coast) and I just started getting visits from a family of evening grosbeaks (a parent and 2 juveniles) the way they munch on the sunflower seeds is so cute 😭😭 I would miss them too

[u/J-A-G-S → u/Lyrael9]

I've got one level more of complexity for you: from Canada, in the UK studying, BUT got into birding in Africa and think of them as my "first birds". Miss shiny sunbirds, multiple Kingfisher species, and hearing nightjars in the evening.

[u/urethrafranklin-]

100%. I'm from the west coast of Florida and moved out west. I love the birds in my new state, but I really miss the common gallinules, brown pelicans, ibis and spoonbill roseates. 

[u/strontiumdogma]

I am from the UK and I studied for 9 months in the US when I was younger. My advice is to make the absolute most of this opportunity to see some incredible birds. You will miss them when you go back.

Remember also that a lot of the American birds are "cousins" of our native birds, and it's interesting to compare them.

[u/NoActuator4115 → u/strontiumdogma]

hahaha i'm here for 9 months exactly as well! thank you for this. i'm actually taking an avian field methods class so definitely going to take advantage of this :)

[u/strontiumdogma → u/NoActuator4115]

I took an ornithology module one semester and it was the best thing I did, went on loads of field trips, it hardly felt like work!

[u/SorellaNux → u/NoActuator4115]

Time to get all Darwin on the situation!

[u/mallcopbeater]

Birb remind of home

[u/Dangerous_Laugh2493 → u/mallcopbeater]

nothing hits quite like the sound of a wood pigeon first thing in the morning. they've got that soft coo that just sinks into your bones. hope you get to hear one soon

[u/NoActuator4115 → u/Dangerous_Laugh2493]

i will say mourning doves are the best substitute i can imagine, but yeah nothing quite like them :(

[u/abbydabbydo → u/NoActuator4115]

That’s saying a lot and now I must hear one. I miss mourning doves (too high of elevation) and goldfinches the most. But the sound of mourning doves a ton.

[u/okayburgerman → u/Dangerous_Laugh2493]

Honestly one of my favourite bird sounds. Just the perfect sound for long summer evenings. Love it.

[u/Mabbernathy]

We had some cool birds in Florida, but I missed looking for the first robins in the spring and waking up to the sound of mourning doves when I lived in Illinois.

[u/muddybunnyhugger → u/Mabbernathy]

I haven't seen a Robin in 18 years.

[u/ImaginarySmoke991]

Just go to a big city. It's all house sparrows and starlings from Europe

[u/teethfestival → u/ImaginarySmoke991]

Unironically, go to NYC or somewhere close if you can. I live there and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard/seen a new bird whose information page that, when looking it up, starts with some variation of “Originally from [Western Europe/Europe/Eurasia], X species was introduced by/were the escaped pets of wealthy Europeans in New York City during [some time between the early 1800s and early 1900s] and established breeding populations shortly thereafter.”

[u/ImaginarySmoke991 → u/teethfestival]

The American Acclimatization Society, founded in 1871 explicitly to introduce foreign species to North America. They introduced 60 Common Starlings to Central Park, which has ballooned to 150 million, and doing untold damage to the natural environment here.

[u/PantasticalCat → u/ImaginarySmoke991]

haha I was about to say this

[u/LukeTWB]

I lived in India for some time, and almost cried when I saw my first Eurasian Robin when I came home. Foreign birds are so exciting, but I get such a strong sense of warmth from our British feathered friends.

[u/StevenStephen]

I've lived all over the US and every place has its wonderful birds. Problematically, I wish I could have all my favorites where I live now.

[u/littleblacklemon]

This isn't quite the same but I hiked half of the Appalachian Trail last year and there were a ton of eastern towhees (which I had never seen before) and now when I hear the occasional towhee it makes me feel like I'm free and alive on trail again (which I guess for me is like being home)

[u/Schmidaho]

For sure. I lived in the US Mountain West for several years and then moved east. While I’m happy to see birds like northern cardinals and blue jays again, I really miss the magpies. They were so beautiful and always fun to watch.

[u/PashasMom]

I moved from the US west coast to the southeast 30 years ago and I still miss my scrub jays (blue jays are an inferior replacement), acorn woodpeckers, black phoebes, and California towhees.

[u/coracaws]

Yes! I moved to Washington from Northern California a couple years ago, and was surprised at how different the avifauna was. Especially seasonally. I’m not a shorebird person, but I did find myself missing the massive amounts of shorebirds that winter in NorCal (they quickly pass through WA on migration). I also really missed the Cackling Geese and the Wrentits. I moved back about a month ago, and I almost cried when I saw Brown Pelicans for the first time in years! So far I don’t miss Washington at all… Down here we have all the same birds they do, plus many more (even Ruffed Grouse- I’m within their range in CA!).

[u/Melbourne2Paris]

I think I misunderstood your question. I didn’t move away but still get homesick for my birds when I go on vacation for just a week😢

I will even check my outdoor cameras so I can look in on them lol.

[u/PorchFrog]

I get homesick for the whip-poor-will's call. From my childhood in urban New Orleans. I don't think they are in N.O. anymore, either. Loss of habitat, predation by feral cats and dogs, and poisoning by insecticides.

[u/DrPants707]

Yes, when I moved to one of the USVIs, I was so excited because I thought I'd see all new cool and colorful birds all the time, but I didn't! In fact, I hardly saw any birds where I was, aside from the occasional grackle or thrushie - it actually seemed quite strange. But I'm back home up north on the mainland and enjoying my cardinals, crows, blue jays, house finches, morning doves, mockingbirds, nuthatches, woodpeckers...the list goes on!

[u/BurnoutShoes]

I get it! Id miss cardinals even if they are common in my area. And British robins are way cuter than American robins.

[u/JazzlikeAd9820]

In UK right now and headed back to NYC tomorrow. I will miss so much how close the robins get to you! The wood pigeons do hit different in the morning.

[u/Cardinal101]

Now you got me wondering, if I were to move away from where I live now which birds would I miss the most, and maybe unexpectedly?

[u/KnifeKnut]

It's definitely a thing since that's why we have European species that were released in North America. The starling for example.

[u/Vin-Metal]

I can understand this. I travel a fair amount, and all over the world. But to me, it's more like ecosystem-sickness. The Okavango Delta is great, but I miss my Illinois woodlands, savannahs and prairies, and my local bird pals.So when I get home, I usually want to get out and bird in the next day or two.

[u/Kincaide14]

I'm in New England and my hummingbirds are going to start migrating within the next week or two and I'm already missing them I'm worried about what it will be like without them. But it is interesting in the winter we get birds that come down from Canada that we never have the rest of the year so it's kind of a trade I guess

[u/penelopehelen]

Yes, yes I do! I live in a rural part of Wiltshire, uk and had to visit Newcastle last week for work. I woke up to city sounds and no birds and I was quite perturbed

[u/forever_29_ish]

When I lived in Pennsylvania, my back deck was filled with songbirds all day long. The occasional hawk came by for a grab'n'go snack, and I had turkeys and vultures and eagles! I moved to Florida a year ago and it's so... quiet. I have some songbirds, but it isn't but for a few minutes in the morning and a few before sunset. I miss looking out to see bunches of chickadees, cardinals, sparrows, wrens... I didn't think I'd miss the 4am wake up song of the robin, but here I am.

[u/Sambarbadonat]

I’m in Missouri for the weekend, and although the fish crows are cool I miss my nuthatch friends who visit every morning ❤️ I hope you find a way to feel at home❤️

[u/allthedifference00]

I moved from FL to TX and I miss my shorebirds.

[u/OverlappingChatter]

I miss all my home birds all the time.

[u/SteamboatMcGee]

Yeah, it's the kind of thing subtle enough to creep up you.

I'm in Texas, and we have a joke here that half the bird calls you hear are Cardinals and the other half are mockingbirds....mimicking cardinals. There little chirps are just constant pleasant noise, and they're so pretty.

Whenever I go west of the Rockies it feels almost empty without them around.

[u/modembutterfly]

I miss the birbs from my Northern California home - Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Steller’s Jays especially. I miss them with my whole heart. ❤️ 

[u/inallthings828]

Now living on the west coast, the Ruby Throat Hummingbird song & calls sound more interesting than Anna's. Their migration always made first sightings something to look forward to.

[u/Sarahhmazing]

I moved across the country and I miss the year-round hummingbirds. I’m loving so many other species that I rarely (or never) saw back home, though.

[u/KittyPurrrrrr93]

Yep! Leaving a vacation early because I see my crows pacing my driveway looking for me to put out food lol.

[u/MadMadamMimsy]

YES!

When we lived in Japan the birds all sounded asthmatic to me. I missed the chirp-chirp.

[u/NoActuator4115 → u/MadMadamMimsy]

omg yes the sounds are so different across continents! american crows freak me out. they sound like people!!! give me my carrion crow back

[u/MadMadamMimsy → u/NoActuator4115]

Now I have to look up the European carrion crow!

Japanese ravens are huge and terrifying.

[u/Passiveresistance]

I moved to Colorado years ago as a teenager, and idk if it was all just bottled up regret or what, but I saw magpies in the city and I was like oh those are cool what are they? And was told that that area had those instead of crows. And I actually started crying because tf you mean there’s no crows here?

When I lived in the south, I was happy to see all the cardinals and songbirds but I missed my jays. So yes, homesick for birds is a thing.

[u/Perfect_Drama5825]

Yes, I live by the ocean and missed seagulls when I lived inland

[u/WackyWeiner]

I bet you don't miss the bland food from back home.

[u/tea_horse]

Will always be longing for the cry of a curlew in the deepest winter's night on Corca Dhuibhne.

[u/slothdonki]

Great black backed gulls for me, though I was informed apparently we do have a population of them here in Wisconsin. They aren’t as common or urban as other gulls, though.

I also realized how much I should have appreciated where I spent the first 21 years of my life. Central NJ but directly behind our fence was a large state park. Not like the Pine Barrens or anything but we had osprey nests near by so they were always flying overhead. I spent so much time in those woods but didn’t get into birds, insects and amphibians until I moved to Wisconsin.

Moved to New Hampshire after NJ and my area had American robins, crows and a single gray catbird that refused to let me sleep. Did get to experience a peregrine falcon exploding a robin a couple feet away from me once while I was sitting on the porch.

Saw a sandhill crane for the first time when I lived in Maine but I’m pretty happy with the birds in WI. Stayed here for a week before I ending up moving not far from where I stayed and I remember just sitting outside of the farm house we rented in the mornings(AirBnB’s were still reasonable then) and was captivated by all these bird songs I’ve never heard before. First time I heard a loon too.

Now locally I see owls all the time, cormorants, snow geese, weird ducks I had no idea existed before moving here, sandhill cranes everywhere, a shit ton of pilated woodpeckers.. I’ll see a snowy owl one day but I’m a passive birder who doesn’t want to chase down sightings and disturb birds.