Bird Phobia - Seeking destinations with few or no birds
 

I'm looking for recommendations for destinations which have little or no bird life.

My wife is terrified of birds. It's a deep phobia, which she has had since childhood, and which has resisted several attempts at treatment. This has caused a few issues on holiday. There was a lovely big pub in Manly Beach a few years back where she had to hide under a table when a bird got inside and sat in the rafters - we had to pack her food and eat back at the hotel. We've gone into restaurants where there has been a caged parrot, and had to walk straight out again. And once I didn't read the small print, and booked a cabin in the Karoo desert without realising it was next to a bird sanctuary. That was a tough couple of days.

We've just returned from a Christmas break in Honolulu, which I enjoyed, but which Mrs Old Vines found stressful. There were a lot of extremely tame birds around the hotel pool and on Waikiki beach, which would settle down close to where we would be trying to relax on a lounger, and which were hard to chase away. Tame birds are worse for her than wild ones, as they won't go away when waved or shouted at. We had a trip to the North Shore of Oahu on Christmas Eve, where there were some feral chickens - this caused great panic.

I understand that there are even more feral chickens on Kaua'i, and that feral birds are a problem in many places worldwide - I've googled "Feral Chickens" and found articles about Key West and Bermuda. Birds seem to like coastlines, so we wonder whether a spa resort in a desert (perhaps the American SouthWest) might be a good option for our next vacation.

Antarctica.
Guam.

Is she afraid of snakes too? If so Antarctica is the only option.

Even Antarctica is not bird-free. All of those penguins. Plus petrels, terns, albatrosses, and others. And it's actually a breeding grounds for some species in the spring--birders go there to see that.

Maybe I need to post on a birders' forum, and ask them where the worst place for a birdwatching vacation would be

Cruises?
Note, though, that you will often see birds, at a distance, following the water churned up along the sides of the ship. Certain ports may have birds walking around.

Deserts are a good choice however, there are birds there too. Good luck finding a place on Earth that doesn't have birds.

Perhaps you should put your names on the waiting list for one of the Mars missions.

What do you want to do when you travel? That might help in identifying promising destinations.

Good question - we simply want to relax by a pool under a warm sun.

That's probably a good idea actually.

I suppose an arid area would tend to have fewer birds, but not many places on earth without any.

Hope you find something suitable for you and the Mrs. Phobias are no fun and hers sounds like a pretty tough one.

Urban China. Friends who have gone there have commented on the lack of any birds in Chinese cities, probably beause of pollution.

This might help - seems to have "hot spots" plotted by birders. I suppose the "cold spots" could be due to a lack of spotters as much as a lack of birds, but might give you some ideas of where to avoid at least?

http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots

As a birder myself, I have to say that it is going to be easier to get treatment for the phobia than to find a place where there are no birds. That is the beauty of birding: they’re everywhere. (Including Antarctica—I was there 11 months ago and had a fantastic birding experience, including the times when we were at sea hundreds of miles from land.) Seriously, this is a case for therapy, if it’s really that big of an issue.

If she can manage at home I would suggest a place that approxiamtes that closely.

I'll take OP at face value that they've tried treatment.