Wayward Birds Explained

I moved to a cardinal area from an area that didn't have them, and it blew my mind to see one for the first time. They are gorgeous birds. They are also annoying as fuck. But they are so pretty while they are annoying.

Sort of like my cat.

Bluejays are also pretty annoying.
During the pandemic, I was WFH and above my home office was a tree branch right above my window. It had 3 baby blue jays.
That was a rough spring/summer. Those guys were so noisy!

Go to where you're appreciated.

That's why I always prefer playing games with n00bs
- GD smurfs ruining my casual online multiplayer game that's totally not toxic on its own! shakes fist
I like when browsing the internet, I bump into quote like this.
Pluto is kinda hard to access.

Cardinals are definitely a good bird even in their native range. They should have used a house wren or something.

This was my thought too except i thought bluejay. Bluejays are super pretty, but people who live around them know that they're giant assholes lol.
- Boo! Hiss! You take that back!
  I love my blue jays so much! They're corvids like crows and ravens, so they are very smart and have tons of personality.
  They became my buddies over Covid and I've gotten to watch them raise their families. They'll call each other when they see me outside and sit in me tree and wait for me to bring them snacks. They'll all approach in different ways, some braver, some more shy. They'll discipline the young ones. The young ones will play with each other. They make many more calls than the harsh jeer call. They'll do a little bobbing dance for me or each other when they're excited.
  They've never picked on the other songbirds. The only things I've seen them get upset about were crows and hawks. Though 2 did get into it with each other pretty good once.
  They're really great animals once you get over the stereotypes of them, and they are one of the things I miss every day about having to take a new job where I can't be at home and interact with them throughout the day.
- At least bluejay are blue. They've got that going for them. Look at this thing it looks so generic.
- They keep choking in the first round of the playoffs, too. I guess it goes with the blue-and-white colour scheme.
Cardinals are loyal. They don't bail once the weather turns cold and ride the winter out like a true Midwesterner

So the moral of this comic is that you're always more appreciated when you show up and contribute somewhere people aren't expecting to find you in.

For example, a certain Academy Award nominated actress, in the comment section of a niche tech forum.

But where will we find one of those?
- Maybe we can lure one out from the Hollywoods by promising her an Oscar this year.
  (And by telling her she has beautiful feathers.)

Never have I heard someone say they were bored of cardinals, even where they're common; everyone gets excited when they see one around here :)

I agree. They are common where I live and I don't usually see a lot of them, but they a beautiful birds.
It's especially great that they aren't migratory birds, so you get to see these fattened little red fluffballs all winter. They really look striking against the snow.
Same with robins, they're an incredibly common bird, but they are also so handsome.
- Yes! I love seeing fat robins especially because their little red waistcoats make it so much more pronounced haha. They're very cute, 10/10 bird.

Am Australian, can confirm. Seeing my first wild cardinal and bluejay were like what seeing an echidna or koala for the rest of the world would be like (except I went to them, rather than them come to me like the comic)... You've seen them on TV, now there they are IRL, like meeting a celebrity.

Was very special seeing a squirrel for the first time, and a woodpecker. Growing up in the southern hemisphere isn't just cool for the unusual animals we have, but for the 'common' animals we don't.

Whoa, you guys don't have squirrels?? That is somehow very interesting to me

This is like why I emigrated, except it didn't work

Got go somewhere where humans are rare.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_U59u69tys
- So Svalbard or Antarctica it is.

This is a really moving and inspiring comic! I really felt for the cardinal when it was angrily reading the book, and then felt so happy for it when it was enjoying the admiration of the Oregonians. Wholesome!

State bird of Indiana. Pretty common, but I always get excited when I see one.

I miss hearing cardinals quite a lot. I moved from the Midwestern US to western Canada and have enjoyed learning the new birds (even bought the Audubon western bird guide to go with my old copy of eastern). I haven't seen a Cardinal at all out here, but they've been photographed on rare occasions. I'm honestly just thankful that we still get robins every spring. It's a nice reminder of home.

Better to be a big fish in a small pond, than a small fish in a big pond.

I live right at the northern tip of their range. I'd never seen one in person until 2 years ago. Now they're a common sight in my back yard, and it's amazing.

I super didn't expect them to sound like car alarms, though.

Red Cardinal, Blue Jays, Yellow Finches, seems like some places have a whole rainbow of birds!

Blue jays are my faaavorite (next to my crowbros of course) 💙🖤

I love it when I'm on a road trip and can get a photo of me next to the "welcome to this state" sign. It's not an easy task. Rarely are those signs positioned in tourist photo-friendly places.

Usually along a high-speed highway with no place to turn out and park. So you just zoom by it and wish you could have taken a picture.

I’m in Ohio, I think they’re adorable

In south carolina, I always keep my bird feeder with plenty of fresh nuts for them. They are my favorite bird

Cardinals and bluejays. They're assholes but they're pretty.