BIRD ANTHRO DISCUSSION

 So you want to know what it's like to be a hawk anthro?  Sure, I
can tell you that.  Ever since my Change at age 16, I've been one,
and I don't think I'd choose anything else, even if I had the option,
looking back.

The first thing you're going to notice as any bird of prey is the
vision.  Dear god, the vision.  I've no personal experience, but
I've heard it compared to putting glasses on for the first time after
being nearsighted your whole life.  Everything snaps into focus
clearly, and you can see at about 2-3 times the detail at the same
distance.  You'll never have to worry about fine print being
illegible again.  This isn't always good, mind you, particularly for
things that look unappetizing even as a human, like acne, or if you
suffer from Trypophobia.  But in general in our sight-oriented world,
its a huge boost.  Raptors also have striated pupils, which means you
can control the shape of the lens in your eye on a subconscious level,
allowing rapidly changing focus.  Additionally, you might, depending
on the specifics of your change, end up a tetrachromat, meaning you'll
be able to see somewhat into the UV spectrum.  I didn't get this
myself, so I can't speak about it with authority, but it's said that
its real trippy if you do.  Raptors also are more motion-sensitive
than humans, which means you may focus quickly on sudden movements at
first, and have your attention snap to them.  Related to this, TV
will be different; raptor eyes 'see' more 'images' per second than
human, so the threshold for smooth animation motion is higher.  Since
new laws require TVs and monitors to be compatible, it's not as big a
problem as it once was, but when watching older shows, you might
notice it seems 'choppier', like an old-time Flash animation. 

The second thing will be the hearing, particularly if you're ending up
as an owl.  I heard once that barn owls can hunt by hearing alone. 
Now I wouldn't advise doing that, but the hearing of any raptor is up
there with their sight as a major advantage... or it would be, if
human society wasn't just so loud!  The first few weeks you'll
probably get some sensory overload from all the sounds you're going to
suddenly be hearing that weren't in range of your human hearing. 
Particularly annoying are things with a high pitch you might now be
able to hear, like some motors and engines.  Fluorescent lighting
isn't great either for that.  On the plus side, once you get the hang
of it, you can hear with a lot of clarity, even at some distance. 
And again, owls?  You might have your ears being not symmetrical,
which means you can triangulate a sound's location just by listening
and twisting your head.

Speaking of moving your head, your eyes probably can't move much in
their sockets anymore, so you'll be doing a lot of head turning to see
everything around you.  Your field of vision is wide, but the
binocular vision is where you really want to focus.  So get used to
moving your head.  Birds-morphs have more neck vertebrae, so you can
probably do at least a 180 on your neck without much trouble.

Now, so far I've covered mostly sensory upsides, but there are some
downsides too.  Your sense of touch WILL be reduced by the scales on
your hands, and you simply won't have the same degree of tactile
sensation.  It's not like you can't tell hot, or cold, or rough vs
soft, but you'll quickly notice that the finer details of sensation
might be lost.  Some things are going to feel more the same than they
used to, simply because you don't have the ability to differentiate
anymore.  Braille dots from pre-Change days in particular are almost
insensate to me, though that hardly matters in my case since I'm not
blind and I can't read Braille.

Taste and smell are also going to be reduced.  Smell is really almost
nonexistant, except for particularly strong scents.  This is not
necessarily as nice as it sounds, since you can't 'stop and smell the
roses', among other things.  Your brain simply isn't wired for
deciphering that kind of input.  Taste is also different, and the
sensory palette is reduced, again to stronger tastes, or meat like
substances.  You'd think that this would be good, since you wouldn't
be able to tell the difference between real and substitute meat, but
trust me... you'll still be able to, and the latter still is
comparatively terrible.

Speaking of food, eating with a beak is different.  A lot of what you
eat will need to be swallowed whole or in chunks.  Water or other
liquids will need to be poured straight down the throat, or into the
lower mandible and then 'tipped' back down your throat.   You'll get
used to it after a bit, but swishing liquid will be a thing of the
past.  Beaks constantly grow, and unlike wild hawks, you probably
won't wear yours down by hunting.  Instead you'll need to "cope", or
file, the beak down a bit so that it doesn't become too long.  This
isn't painful; it's mostly dead tissue, but it can be time
consuming.  You won't get cavities because of this, at least not
permanent ones, but you'll still have to brush; nobody likes bad
breath.

Nutritionally, expect a heavy helping of meat in your diet, and unless
you're very well off, a lot of it will be substitute.  Depending on
your degree, you may also need to add feathers, bone meal, or other
inedible material.  Hawks and raptors cast, or regurgitate, pellets,
and this is essential for proper digestion in higher degree
individuals.  Milk and dairy may be off the menu entirely.  Liquid
intake may be decreased, as birds reprocess a much greater degree of
water through their bodies in order to decrease dead liquid weight. 
There are some supplements claiming to make your food more palatable,
but I've rarely used them.  They don't pack enough punch, for me. 
And bad news if you like spicy peppers... if you're high degree, you
probably won't be able to taste them anymore.  Avian biochemistry
handles capsaicin as a mild analgesic, or painkiller, because it helps
birds spread the seeds.  Long story short, if you like spicy food,
hope you're low degree.

The most obvious feature of a bird is the feathers, and trust me,
you'll be covered in them.  They're warm, but they also preclude
sweating for most morphs, so expect to get hot if you exert
substantially.  Your main method of dispersing heat is panting. 
Feathers themselves hold a LOT of water if they get wet, so your
bathing habits might change unless you continue sweating.  They're
also great for self expression, in more than one way.  Your feathers
will react unconsciously to your moods and emotions, changing
posture.  This can take time for others to learn to read, but it'll
come with time.  It's your main method of emoting, really. 
Additionally, unless your feathers are already dark, they can hold
colors and dyes and be used for some fairly significant
self-expression.  The downside to all of this is molting.  Depending
on your species, you'll shed and replace all your feathers on a
predictable cycle, usually once a year, over several weeks or
months.  Get a good vacuum unless you're planning to make pillows,
because regular birds have THOUSANDS of feathers and you're way
larger.  Molting is itchy and a mess and just generally unpleasant,
but since feathers don't naturally heal, that's the only way damage is
repaired is by growing new ones.

Since we're talking feathers, the longest ones will be on your wings
and tail.  Unless you're low degree, you'll probably end up with
either wings on your back, angel style, or with wings fused with your
arms.  Both have unique ergonomic challenges, but in general, you're
going to occupy more space than an equivalent humanoid.  WIngarms,
like I have, are like having drapes constantly attached to your arms
from the armpit up to the elbow or wrist, and can make a lot of things
difficult, such as reaching behind cabinets or into smaller areas.  I
had to rearrange my living space after I changed, and the general idea
of larger spaces, and plenty of gap room to reach behind or between
things remains, as well as not having a lot of easily-knocked-over
loose objects.  Keyboards and desks became a problem, too. 
Meanwhile, my beautiful wife Cassandra has back wings, and she has to
be more careful where she turns around, and keep better track of her
personal surroundings.

Skeletally, your bones aren't any weaker than normal; this is a
misconception.  Bird bones are actually stronger than equivalent
sized mammals in normal animals.  What your bones ARE, is hollow with
dozens or hundreds of cross-bracing support struts inside of them to
save weight while maintaining strength.  This means that if you are
injured, the possibility of a complex fracture is higher, and medical
attention is more urgent.  But you're not going to have to walk
around like you'll get a broken bone easily like they portray in
movies.  Additionally, if higher degree, your sternum becomes your
keel, which is used to maintain stability and body shape during
flight.  Chest flexibility may be reduced because of this.

Instincts, you're probably going to develop a bit of claustrophobia,
at least of some type.  It's entirely natural and expected for most
bird species.  Conversely, you might feel more comfortable in more
open areas.  I find archways and such other architectural tricks help
for this.  You'll also probably preen when nervous, fluff your
feathers when threatened or scared.  I already mentioned the movement
focus.  You may also like windy weather, or just generally feel more
comfortable outdoors or at height.

Avian lungs are circulatory, which means that unlike the 'bellows'
lungs employed by mammals, fresh air is constantly flowing through
them, both as you inhale and exhale, in a complex pattern.  Look it
up if you want, but your stamina will be increased because you'll be
exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide more efficiently and at a higher
percentage.  This isn't all good, however; impurities in the air will
affect you faster, and you can't use standard mammal rebreather
systems that rely on filtering out carbon dioxide.  If you have the
money and you work in an area where it might be a concern, get a
particulate and toxin sensor and keep it on you.  I understand some
flight computers even have them built in these days on the high end.

Past that, speaking might take some getting used to.  You no longer
have lips to use to help form words, so you need to form all the sound
in your throat, sometimes using the tongue for help.  I wouldn't
expect to master it right away, but eventually it'll become second
nature.  An important detail: Just because you don't need to move
your beak to make sound doesn't mean you shouldn't.  Its unnerving to
watch, even for me, when someone speaks without motion.  Since the
beak needs to be open anyways for the sound, try to make it a bit of a
habit to move it, at least a bit.  This might be reflexive initially
for some of you, and the goal should be to make it reflexive if it
isn't.

Clothing's an interesting topic.  You don't have much in the way of
anything you need to cover in most cases, so if you're higher degree,
you may find that your clothing styles will shift more towards display
and formality when appropriate, and more utility at all other times. 
I generally have a flight pack or something else to carry gear and
personal possessions in, because carrying everything in your hands is
for suckers.  Messenger bags or backpacks can work as well if you
keep the straps tight.  For more formal wear, sashes or other smaller
things are preferred, instead of a full on suit.  The material will
depend on your personal preference, but I find higher thread counts
don't catch on feathers as much and are much nicer to wear.  Make
sure if you're a Norm Shifter that you consider shift-friendly
clothing.

Your feet are probably splayed toe murder weapons.  Get talon shields
fitted for your species, and use them.  Raptor feet are very quick to
grasp, and have locking tendons in them that make it difficult to let
go once they ratchet closed.  Now that's inconvenient in a lot of
situations, but it's also assault, possibly with a deadly weapon, if
it happens to another person.  Better to be cautious.  There's also
a lot of places where 'weapons', including raptor talons, are frowned
upon, such as in government facilities or on aircraft.  Shields also
help keep your talons from catching on carpeting, and believe me,
there's a lot of old carpeting that isn't designed for claws and
talons.  You may also want to get the padding option.  Your feet are
tough enough to walk barefoot on many surfaces, but hot concrete or
asphalt is NOT one of them.  And it's just more comfortable in
general.  Your feet also have some limited manual dexterity, and you
can use one as a third 'hand' to hold things.  Don't expect a great
deal of fine manipulation, but if you're working with tools, it's an
option.

In terms of actual personal protective equipment, if you're in a job
that requires it, steel toed boots exist for birds, though they're not
at all pleasant given how wide your toes are spread apart or how much
they like to realign.  You can get positive pressure masks or nare
plugs, that provide a steady stream of oxygen or filtration from
toxins.  All of this rings up to be fairly expensive, though.  If
you're working in a even more hazardous environment, you might need to
get a suit that covers you entirely, feathers and all.  I don't know
many birds that like to work in these conditions, but I'm sure there's
gotta be some, right?

If you're interested in Powers, the most common one is Norm Shift or
Flighted.  Past that there's a lot of genetic lottery involved and I
don't have the numbers in front of me to make a lot of
generalizations, but a few powers that are anecdotally more common in
my experience are Telekinesis and Desolidification, but there are many
others.  Movement related powers also seem common, like
teleportation, or speed.  And of course, microscopic high detail
vision is pretty common, though the ability to magnify in like a pair
of binoculars is less so.

Predator/Prey relations is a tricky one, since most raptors, while
fairly high up the food chains they're in, are not always apex
predators, and they're definitely not what somebody THINKS of when
they think of an apex or super predator.  What this means in
practical terms is you've gotta learn how not to bully other morphs of
species that're smaller or more vulnerable, while also not making
yourself look weak if someone bigger is jockeying with you.  It's a
crummy game, and being caught in the middle of it is honestly one of
the things I like least about the whole experience.  The best hints
I've got to something that's obviously extremely subjective to people
is to not flare your feathers, don't stare, and if you can, try to
move your beak when you talk.  That takes a lot of practice, but it
reduces what some people find extremely unnerving about us.  Beyond
that, try to be mindful of your general posture and where your talons
are.  And no sudden movements if you can avoid it.

And finally, we'll cover flight and, if necessary, flight computers. 
The first thing about flight is, while you're learning, expect to get
dinged up a bit.  Scratches, scrapes, bruises.  Maybe get some
painkillers and antiseptics before you really get started.  Now, if
you're just changing, you're a teenager.  You're not invincible. 
Trust me... it's very tempting to imagine yourself an ace right away,
but you're not.  Even real birds have to be careful about what
conditions they fly in, so take it slow and steady.  You'll learn,
you'll improve, and you'll be safe doing it.  If you're a flight
capable anthro, you have to register with the FAA.  There are
different zones we're allowed to fly in, depending on how far we're
traveling.  Try to stay in the right zones either way, but it's way
easier with a flight computer, which I'll get to in a moment.  Watch
out for other fliers and keep a respectful distance, unless you're
kettling, that is, using the same thermal to ride up. 

Thermals are columns of rising hot air, and they're the best way to
get altitude in a hurry.  Most birds of prey can't flap for extended
periods, relying instead on updrafts and thermals to carry them
higher.  Once they're at height, they spread their wings out and
glide, or cruise, and this is how they travel long distances, say,
during migration.  You can use the same trick, though you'll need to
find a larger thermal to circle in.  The best places I've found are
generally commercial zones, since they tend to have larger parking
lots and paved areas that generate thermals during the day very
well.  There are no-fly zones, though, and you want to learn about
those from research or your flight computer.  Some people think
they're there for the government to hide things, and I'm sure that's
part of it, but they're also present for safety.  Two common
restricted flight zones that aren't associated with hiding things are
industrial areas, particularly factories, and airports.  Both are
dangerous areas for you to fly, and you can get in a lot of trouble
flying into a no-fly zone, up to and including a revocation of your
flight certifications.  Basically, the same as someone who disobeys
traffic laws gets their driver's license pulled.  And while we're on
the subject of safety, your alcohol tolerance will be fairly low, so
if you've had even one drink, have a friend get you home.  It's
difficult at best to fly when drunk anyways.

Flight computers are basically ruggedized laptops, and you can use
them like that when you're on the ground, but they're also so much
more.  A lot these days are barely larger than a smartphone, though
they're expensive as a good one.  Absolutely get a strap for yours
because there's no way you'll find it if you drop it, if it survives
at all.  Aside from being a handy travel companion, it also has all
the functions you'd expect for flying.  GPS, altimeter, windspeed,
weather.  It receives information from others to help avoid
incidents, though it's no substitute for using your brain and
senses.  Most of them come with a headset, and I'd recommend you get
one, because it can be tricky to use just looking at the screen.  The
better models include eyepiece HUDs or wrist-mounted displays to
check, similar to a smart watch.  Just make sure whatever you get,
you're happy with it, and take good care of it.  Just because they're
ruggedized doesn't mean they're indestructible.

If you're higher on the degree scale, you'll probably end up with
somewhat of a forward lean.  Birds generally don't stand fully
upright, particularly since their tail feathers would drag on the
ground in that position.  You probably will have a similar stance if
you're having wing arms, though backwing birds seem to stand upright
more easily.  Either way, you can adjust this through your legs based
on the position you happen to be in at the time.  Your arms for
wingarms will may bend backwards, with your hands resting near your
throat in a neutral "folded" position for your arms, or they may just
be like 'normal' human arms.  If the former, be a little bit careful
with fidgeting your hands, since they've probably got pretty nasty
talons on them too.  Talons are keratin over bone and you don't want
to hurt them too bad either.  Bone injuries hurt.

If you swim, you might not be advised to anymore, at least not much. 
While birds of prey can swim on the surface of the water, with few
exceptions they're not very good at it in most cases and prefer to
avoid it.  It takes a very long time to dry off anyways, and I'm sure
feathers clog pool filters up pretty fast.  Speaking of water, birds
don't sweat, so you probably won't NEED to take a shower or bath as
often, at least not with soap.  Still take one when you dress to
impress, though.  Certain soaps have been developed, certified as
feather friendly, which can be used to reduce wear on your feathers
and generally keep them looking nicer.  Remember your feathers are
dead like mammal hair and don't heal, so care is important to keep
them looking nice.  Preen as necessary or get a feather comb, and
make sure to spend some time at it each day.  You're not exposed to
the elements as much so you won't need to spend near as much time at
it as an animal, but it still matters.

If you end up with a syrinx, you may be able to make more than one
sound at a time.  This obviously needs a lot of practice and
training, and since you're not a songbird or a parrot this ability is
more limited.  Makes an interesting party trick if you can do it. 
Either way you should expect your voice to change, probably rising in
pitch to a point or at least staying roughly the same.  If you're
already a trained vocalist, you may have to relearn a lot of things. 
Speaking of vocalizing, be careful using your species' natural calls;
firing off a redtail shriek can be considered threatening,
particularly for morphs whose base species have instinctive responses
to that.  Songbirds, rodents, and so on are highly attuned to the
sounds given by their natural predators and some people have inherited
these instincts.  This ties back into the relations and general
sensitivity I talked about earlier.

Your beak is largely nonexpressive.  Again, it's largely dead tissue,
and is intended for a job you won't be doing in public.  It's got
some flexibility around the edges, but your expressions will be
distinctly limited.  You can open it, close it, move it from side to
side a bit, and use it to emphasize points, though clicking it
incessantly can come off as threatening, again. 

Driving a car might be out for you depending on your degree and wing
structure.  If your body shape DOES allow it, you'll probably need
some modifications to the vehicle to allow for feathers and wings. 
Make sure you take care when they're being moved, and you probably
want to get a selector button on your transmission if it's automatic
so you don't nudge it by accident.  Your reflexes are better than a
humans, but DON'T GET COCKY, the car will still respond at the same
rate no matter how good your reflexes are.  So be careful, wear a
seat belt or harness, and give plenty of room to other drivers.