Am Australian, can confirm. Seeing my first wild cardinal and bluejay were like what seeing an echidna or koala for the rest of the world (except I went to them, rather than them come to me like the comic)… You’ve seen them on TV, now there they are IRL, like meeting a celebrity.

Was very special seeing a squirrel for the first time, and a woodpecker. Growing up in the southern hemisphere isn’t just cool for the unusual animals we have, but for the ‘common’ animals we don’t.