The birds, our birds or my birds?

This is not really a question at all, they’re my birds. However, while they’re in my neighbours garden, she’s pretty sure they’re her birds! There, I suppose lies the real question.

When I was younger (long ago), I used to go out and watch ‘the’ birds wherever I went. In the garden, hedgerows and pretty much everywhere. However once I became a property owner (renting a cheap room in a friends house is nearer the truth) and had my own garden, I became aware that I was regularly feeding our birds in the garden.

Well, the years have gracefully passed and I’m now living in my own home, with my own family and young children, who regularly and proudly identify ‘the’ birds in our garden, This is when I realise at some pivotal point in time I somehow adopted ‘the’ birds and took responsibility for their welfare and they became ‘my’ birds. How and when did this happen; I’m really not sure but I’m happy that it did, in the same way I’m happy to sort and recycle waste and tidy my own room. I guess it’s all part of growing up.