To be or not to be (a bird)?

So you wonder if you are a bird. Have you first considered other reasonings for your experiences?

• Wings do not a bird make.

Many people who are familiar with the therianthrope and otherkin community ask themselves if they are a bird due to feeling wings on their backs, and/or a craving for flight. After meeting many such people, I do not think this is a good marker for a bird identity. The truth is, many humans crave flight. Along history, people have been fascinated by flight, be it the myth of Icarus, or the experiments of Da Vinci. Simply feeling like you wish you could fly is in no way abnormal for a human.

Additionally, people who already experience odd perceptual phenomenon such as phantom limbs are likely to experience more ! It's therefore very normal if you are otherkin/therian, and have another 'type, to be more likely than the general population to feel this. However, people who are not otherkin/therian may feel this too.

Ask yourself : Is there anything other than a feeling of wanting to fly that brings you here ? Other unexplained phantom bodily parts, other instincts ? If not, if this is the only bird-like experience you have, I am sorry to say but you may not be in the right place. Moreover, few birds actually fly in the way idealized by humans : while a few, like corvids, are known to play in the sky, flight is costly, and many birds may not regard it as an effortless, freeing way to move instinctively.

• Are you a bird, or do you like birds?

The most important part of the definition of therianthrope is that you see yourself as a bird, currently. This means that simply thinking you had a past life as one doesn't count, if you don't currently still feel like one. Similarly, just liking birds isn't a sign of therianthropy, many people have strong connections to birds. The scale tips in favor of therianthropy only if the feeling of connection you have with bird is self recognition through the other.

This does not mean the experience of other connections to birds cannot be very strong ! A person with a particularly strong connection to certain types of birds (or all birds) may call themselves other-hearted. This simply mean that while you are not a bird, they are a very important presence in your life. You may collect bird themed things, you may associate yourself with birds, you may have spiritual ties to birds, but you are not one yourself.

To know if you are a bird therianthrope or bird-hearted, question if the feeling you experience is awe, interest, pleasure in learning and seeing, or simply a feeling of recognizing their behaviors as more similar to you than humans are.

• Shifter's Disease

Do not fret : this disease is not terminal. This is simply a tongue-in-cheek reference to medical student disease, a phenomenon where medical students start feeling symptoms of the disease they research.

This trick of the mind also happens to therianthrope : upon joining the community, many therianthrope experience an uptick in shifts, aka feelings of animality. Many young therianthropes will experience numerous confusing phantom limbs and instincts that do not match what they felt before joining. It is particularly present if you are actively communicating with a group of peers !

Therefore, if you only have recently started to have bird like feelings, are relatively young or new to interacting with the community, and perhaps actively researching about other's theriotypes, perhaps keep in mind that you may be experiencing things that may not reflect your actual identity, and that it may fade in time. You are the only judge on knowing if you consider enough time has passsed / you are settled enough, but I would recommend exploring feelings you have had before joining the community to be certain.