How One Tweet Nailed the Rise of Birding

[Estimated read: 4 minutes]

It started with a simple, throwaway tweet (twitter days!), the kind you’d usually scroll past. But this one was different. It was funny. Strangely accurate. And for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, it hit a little too close to home. Suddenly, something as unassuming as birdwatching was everywhere. 

So, where did it come from? Why did it resonate? And what does it say about where birding in this modern day? We decided to go straight to the source.

Back in September 2022, American comedian Jesse Case tweeted:

As you age, it’s ridiculous how fast bird-watching creeps up on you. You spend your whole life being 100% indifferent to birds, and then one day you’re like “damn is that a Yellow-rumped Warbler”

Just 30 words and one emotional strike of reality, and the internet went wild. From meme pages to birding blogs, from Reddit to TikTok to Facebook, Jesse’s tweet was screenshotted, reshared, paraphrased, copied and memed. The Yellow-rumped warbler had gone viral.  

We reached out to Jess and asked him - Where did 'it' come from?

“I’d just moved from an apartment into a house with a backyard that was basically an aviary,” Jesse told us. “Several bonded pairs of cardinals, blue jays, and so on, this is in the States. As I was buying a pair of binoculars to keep an eye on them, it sort of clicked that I was officially old. That inspired the tweet.”

What started as a very real personal observation, became a mirror for many. One that had a lot of people, birders or not,  staring back at themselves with sudden clarity and a little laugh of self acceptance. 

“It was a throwaway shower thought,” Jesse said. “I don’t draft tweets or anything. I’ve had a few go mega-viral, and it’s always a bit shocking. I’ve got jokes I’m way more proud of that have like seven likes. But the surprise is always what clicks with the public.”

Then, just two days later, the tweet disappeared. Deleted. Gone.

Jesse deleted the tweet, not because it didn’t land, because it did. He did explain in a following tweet that he had been made aware that another comedian, Gabe Rutledge, had long been doing a similar bit on bird-watching. Out of respect, Jesse didn’t want to step on any comedic toes.

Naturally, the Lyfer crew had to talk to Gabe.

“I found out about the tweet because I follow Jesse,” he told us. “Yeah, we messaged about it. I think it was an honest mistake. There’s no hard feelings on my part."

As Jesse explained: “So I pulled it. But I guess it had already gotten around.”

It sure had. We’ve seen the quote used as the opening line in blogs, shared in memes captioned “Me. Every weekend now,” and acted out on TikTok by a twenty-something dramatically peering through binoculars at a city pigeon.

It's become something of a modern proverb for late-blooming birders, a punchline that many only realise applies to them after they’ve repeated it.

Why? Because, like all great jokes, it nails a truth people don’t expect until someone says it out loud. And in Jesse’s case, maybe it wasn’t just observational, it was autobiographical.

So… Jesse, are you one of us now?

“I am officially a proud birder,” he said. “And I can’t tell you how liberating it is to finally come out of that closet and be my true self. So far, my family has been overwhelmingly accepting - aside from the occasional uncle who thinks birdwatching is a sin.”

What Jesse tapped into, knowingly or not, is what we at LYFER now call, the Warbler Moment. That moment when birds sneak into your brain, and then there’s no going back. One day you’re walking the dog, the next you’re googling if that red flash was a Crimson Rosella or an Australian King Parrot (for the Australian readers!).

The best part? Jesse’s tweet didn’t mock birders, it celebrated them. Birding wasn’t the punchline. The twist was that we all end up here eventually.

Watching birds is no longer something you keep quiet, it’s something you post about and be proud of. These viral moments are a sign: Birding doesn’t just belong to experts or retirees. It belongs to everyone. Even those who didn’t see it coming.

Here's a question for you readers! When did birding creep up on you? 

What was your 'Warbler Moment'. Please, share it in the comments section below.