Looking for advice on cameras for a beginner to photography

Hey guys, I've been getting into bird watching these past 5 months and I've recently gotten the urge to start documenting the birds I see with photographs and obviously zooming in on my phone was not cutting it. I've kind of fallen on a bit of a rabbit hole and have been looking into a couple of specific cameras to start out with.

I've heard great things of bridge cameras and those would be I think where I want to start out, I'm stuck between the Coolpix 950, Lumix FZ80D and FZ300. All great budget friendly options and great beginner cameras for someone starting out like myself. Although I've also seen people recommend the Canon EOS r50 for a budget mirrorless option.

For the R50 I've seen people recommend the RF 100-400mm lens as a "budget" option ($700 for the lens). I'm trying to stick under $1k for my budget and I just found on amazon a cool listing for the R50 with the kit lens and a RF 75-300mm Lens for around $753 with extra accessories pre-taxes.

Mainly looking for thoughts and recommendations on where to start, I know that if I start with the R50 I'll have the flexibility of upgrading to a better lens down the line if I end up wanting higher quality/ more reach, but also the portability and budget of those bridge cameras are very appealing.....

Would love to know what you guys think.