I saw a bird. What did you see?

If I say “I saw a bird” and don’t add any details, what do you picture for the word “bird”? Do you fill in a generic bird, or do you just have a void where the “bird” image belongs, until you receive further information?

I hypothesize that most people automatically picture a describable bird that then changes when you start to add details, but that some instead just imagine a blank bird placeholder with no characteristics at all until details are supplied.

—If you picture a generic bird, what does it look like? And—is it a bird that would normally appear in the area where you live (temperate climate, tropics, Asia, western U.SD., etc.)?

—If you imagine some specific bird, such as a bird of your personal acquaintance, then answer this question instead for an animal that you don’t see as an individual, such as a cat or a cow.

—If you just hold an abstract bird-idea in your head, without qualities, do you have any particular thoughts about this ability?