Born To Say "mate" And "pack"

Variations of the species dysphoria posters from wolf for me and @contrapaws

Other Posters: x 2 3 4 5

Hi bird therians! I'd like to present the following list of definitions of avian terminology; instincts and anatomy. Specifically, terms for things that many birdkin may already be aware of due to their own shifts, but not know the word for or even that it's a real and normal thing. Why do I make that assumption? Because my own mind was blown every time I discovered one of these words, the way things I would do or phantom parts I would feel suddenly made sense. So I hope to induce the same reaction in at least someone.

Behaviors

Mantling is mostly a bird of prey thing, the action of leaning over a kill and shielding the spoils with your wings so as to defend it from thieves. I can do no better of a description than a photo, included at the bottom of this post and for raptors it will probably spark recognition.

Rousing is the word for that "slowly fluff up the feathers and then shake the whole body" thing that birds do. Yes, it does have a name! Birds do it when relaxed or just chilly. It is not a threat display. I experience this as like an near-involuntary action -- like scratching an itch or sneezing -- and because I'm not actually raising physical feathers it feels kind of like shivering. But it sort of feels frustrating that I can't seem to achieve it. Like when a sneeze goes away.

Feather-plucking (pterotillomania) is a maladaptive habit birds in captivity develop when they are stressed. You see it most often with parrots, because they're kept as pets more than other birds and are also extremely intelligent so more easily understimulated. Sometimes this does feel like being a bird in captivity and a lot of you might experience this instinct without knowing what it is your brain's asking to do because you have no feathers. Calling it pterotillomania is helpful to me because I have actual dermotillomania and if my body had feathers I'd be plucking them.

Anatomy

Nictitating membrane. Starting with this because you may already know it by now. The third eyelid of birds, translucent, drawn sideways across the eye so that you can keep it moist while still being able to see. Also, as you may know, relevant to cat therians!

Crop. Part of the digestive tract of a bird in the throat where food is temporarily stored before being digested. If you had these shifts it would feel like, according to Wikipedia, basically an enlarged portion of the esophagus.

Keel. An extension of the sternum, the structure to which flight muscles are attached. If you had these shifts it would feel like a thin bone going beneath (or I guess on a humanoid body plan, in front of) your ribcage.

Cloaca. In the interest of not having to mark this post mature, I will not define or describe this one. I encourage you to look it up. Mammals are already working to reduce the stigma surrounding these types of shifts and instincts; we can do the same. There is no shame in it. You're a bird and birds have these. Accept it.

Birds do have sensation in our beaks. There are nerve endings in the beak. Not as much as, say, human skin, but yes, birds can feel touch on their beaks. If you can feel your beak, great! That is anatomically correct, and it certainly does not make you fake!

And now for your enjoyment, a mantling eagle:

i think gatekeeping is unfathomably cringe and i think the way people in this community treat linkers (funlinkers especially) and voluntary identities in general is gross, but i recently came across an exchange that was really irritating to be fair and made me kind of understand the defensiveness.

it was in a comment thread under a video where a streamer was talking about a twitter user who was being 'cancelled' and they must have listed their fictionkins on their strawpage because that's what the comment was about.

person 1: i thought kinning meant that you related to a character?

person 2: it does mean that, not that you actually think you're that character.

person 3: i'm kin and it means that you relate heavily to a character, ppl who identify as "fictionkins" and genuinely think they're fictional characters are just deluded and make us look bad.

like no, that's not what "kinning" means at all. as far as i'm aware, kinning has always meant that you identify as a character in some capacity until people who weren't a part of the kin community made out like it meant something completely unrelated while looking down on people who are actually fictionkin or "kinnies", which is probably where the defensive aspect to the community comes from.

you have co-opted a term that has always meant one thing, said it means something completely different, and then turned around and call the people who use the term in its traditional meaning 'delusional'. that is very disrespectful. for the record i think term discourse is dumb and you can use whatever labels you want, but i understand the frustration.

to more or less usurp the term 'kinning' or 'kinnie' or whatever and twist it to mean your own definition, then claim that the people who the term has always belonged to are 'delusional' is just awful and absurd. "kinning" has always meant that you identify as a character.

personally i am funlink and all of my identities are voluntary and for fun and i use the term kinning to describe that aspect of myself, but i would never look down on involuntary fictionkins or claim that their terms mean something else entirely when it doesn't.

To those new to the therian community (& the otherkin/alterhuman community as a whole, honestly), if you're trying to figure out your kintype and you're struggling I have an insider secret for you.

Just pick one. Just pick a label that feels good enough and run with it. Nobody is gunna challenge you and ask you, well how do you KNOW? and if they do, they're a fuckin weirdo and you can tell em to fuck off. You don't need to be 100% sure. You can actually just do what you want, forever. Maybe you'll realize it isnt for you and move on. Maybe you won't. Fuck it

Raccoon therian culture is having tons of drawer fill with random trinkets,

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Imagine being lovekin but aromantic as hell?????????

Couldn't... Couldn't be me... Ahahha

shoutout to the omegas that have trouble taking care of their nests due to disabilities 🥲❤️

4th Batch of posters!

Other posters: 1 2 3 x 5

Requesters: @lunarr-knows-no-bounds @who-is-page @rjalker @domino-dalmatto @thewerewoofiestwolf @horns-n-claws

Found the perfect hangout spot for therians in my neighborhood

raccoon moodboard

this board belongs to tumblr user rriverranger (also found on ig as @obbercore and @rriverranger)

Just recently did I realize I had a raccoon theriotype. I knew I had a seperate identity for the shifts I got associated with raccoons but not until around March or April did it finally click! night time, junk food, abandoned areas, being rowdy and messy, are some things I like to associate with this type. I feel so complete after discovering this kintype, it’s like the puzzle is finally complete

board by me, images found on pinterest