May 11, 2023

Trans Studies: Bird Breeds

A bird watcher looks through their gallery

Countless pictures of birds going decades back

They are organizing the breeds

Putting a name under each picture

Robin, blue jay, owl

Naming the ones they are familiar with

Chickadee, finch, canary

Matching looks and features to define breeds

Cardinal, dove, eagle

The labeling comes to an end with blank spaces scattered among pictures

The bird watcher cannot figure out the breeds

Some look similar to water birds

But also have songbird traits

The bird watcher tries to find commonality between the unknown breeds

But they fluctuate in color, size, feathering, and location

They are all different and unique

The bird watcher consults a colleague about this issue

The colleague expresses confusion over what the problem is

A hand flies to the nameless birds in frustration

‘Why do you need to define these birds?

Even with your best guess, you’ll never know for sure.

Only the bird will.’