#but i go to ID a hawk because its not a redtail

[massive-ass-bird]

You have got to learn about the mundane wildlife in your area. The world becomes so much bigger and more exciting when you do. Start looking at the birds that show up in the backyard. Look up "backyard bird *my area*" and find out what they're called. If you live in the city, start looking at the pigeons and seeing how many different color morphs you can pick out. Look at the tops of buildings and see what kind of raptors are looking for a mouse to scuttle by at the right time. Look a little closer at the corner spider in your bathroom and try to identify it. Find out what type of trees you pass on your daily walk. Look at the patch of flowers you normally ignore. What kind of flowers are they? What's pollinating them? Are there squirrels in your region? How many different colors can you find them in? It almost becomes a game. You'll start looking for these things when you go out. You'll get excited when you see the rare black squirrel with the orange tail. You'll spy a bright yellow bird and go oh that's my friend goldfinch! One day you'll look at a patch of dandelions and want to squeal when you see an iridescent blue bee. You'll get to smugly correct your friends when they point out a "red headed woodpecker" and you get to say no, actually that's a red breasted woodpecker, you know because it's got the faintest blush of red on its breast and here let me show you an actual red headed woodpecker and- yeah yeah that's why that one gets to be the red head. No I don't know why they went with red breasted and not red capped, I didn't name the damn thing.

The world just gets a little more exciting when you learn about the little plants and animals that live right beside you. You'll see ants crawl in and out of flowers and think wow that must be so cozy. You'll watch the winter birds migrate in and kick snow out of the way to get to fallen seeds and watch the year round birds learn and repeat the behavior. You have to learn about and appreciate the little things, I promise, it's so worth it.