It started simple enough: Two years ago, on holiday in Curaçao, I discovered a palm-sized yellow bird trapped inside the restaurant where I was dining. I gently wrapped my hands around it—felt its tiny beating heart—and set the nearly weightless bird free outside. I soon learned from Google that this was a bananaquit, a breed so sugar obsessed that it has developed a reputation for sneaking into restaurants for a treat—something I found surprisingly relatable—and my bird obsession was born.
Sure, I was living out a cultural cliché; there are a host of viral memes about how everybody seems to magically discover birds in their 30s. And sure, I was feeling a strange sort of midlife malaise and looking for a hobby. But I soon found myself buying binoculars and setting up a handful of bird feeders in my yard—including one with a motion-activated video camera that has turned into a bit of an obsession while I’m tied to my office desk.
Apparently, birds—or birding—is taking flight across the culture: In the time since I first held that bananaquit and started paying attention to my backyard visitors, HBO released the avian-adjacent crime show The Residence, starring Uzo Aduba as a detective and avid birder; brothers Owen and Quentin Reiser dabbled in extreme birding and set out on a Big Year (a kind of birding competition to spot the greatest number of bird species over 12 months) in the DIY documentary Listers; and Jeopardy contestant Michelle Tsai knitted a pigeon-patterned sweater and wore it while “what is”–ing Ken Jennings. Meanwhile, I discussed my new ornithological obsession with Cara Delevingne, Emma Chamberlain, and Victoria Beckham—the latter of whom, in return, shared a story about the feral lime green parakeets found across London.
I’ve also started chronicling my life as seen from my bird feeder, something that started by accident. I’d get a an alert from my feeder that a visitor was caught on camera or sometimes find myself part of a somebody else’s mise-en-scène: One day, a celebrity interview I conducted in the garden was captured at the glorious moment when a white-winged dove dined on a mix of meticulously chosen seeds; another video found me in a YSL wool tuxedo jacket watching four dark-eyed juncos captured during the Great Backyard Bird Count. Now, though, I’m tracking my sartorial and avian pursuits on the camera on purpose.
This season’s fashion has also turned to feathers—for both design inspiration and fabrication. Sparrows and plumelike patterns were embroidered and beaded onto Matthieu Blazy’s featherlight chiffon creations for his first Chanel couture show (and today’s resort show employed feather-embellished lashes as part of the beauty look). Many of the models in Daniel Roseberry’s Schiaparelli spring 2026 couture show wore feathers—including some handmade out of silk. (Zendaya and Law Roach found one of the pieces so compelling that she wore it while swanning through The Drama press tour.) Peacock feathers were just one of the avian materials that Mohammed Ashi of Ashi Studio recently used. These couture pieces would, of course, be pure flights of fancy in my Park Slope backyard—but the ready-to-wear designs, which I’ve been trying out while gardening and drinking my morning latte and even for a kind of meta fit check? Absolutely not a lark.
At Altuzarra, it’s a silky goose—not a silly goose!—overlay draped around the neck just like a stole, which I paired with a vintage Vuitton Speedy and red wool trousers. At Tory Burch, birds come in all shapes and sizes, and my favorite piece is a beaded cardigan that depicts a flock with wings outstretched. I’ve also been on the hunt for vintage references to fowls, snatching up a swallow-print mini from Miu Miu’s spring 2010 show from Sweet Disorder Vintage. (I’ve also set an eBay alert for anything from Alexander McQueen’s 2008 spring collection, which was dedicated to fellow exotic bird Isabella Blow.) Amid it all, my backyard cabal of cardinals, house sparrows, mourning doves, and blue jays joined in on the ever-evolving fashion show.
Recent studies have found that people who engage in bird-watching have improved brain function and mental health. Anybody who knows me well probably won’t attest to this hobby making me more sane, but I am happier since fully succumbing to the bird-brain lifestyle: Nothing gives me greater pleasure than watching robins nest in Prospect Park or a woodcock wiggle in Bryant Park. So yes, I am living out that mid-30s birding cliché—and chasing down rare birds, like the surprise trumpeter swan spotted recently on Manhattan’s East River for the first time ever. And if I’m wearing something cute while I do it? Even better.
