I was identifying as red falcon before I realized I'm a dragon. Must've been at the age of 12..16 years, somewhere around that. The trait of wanting to protect Earth and life has always been there. Realizing the dragon guardian identity was the major change, just pieces being put together without much active introspection. It just felt right. Since end of 2018, the identity has gotten another major spin, caused by an increased amount of (partly involuntary) mental and astral shifts. I realized I'm an empath. Before, I used to believe that my existence would be bound to life on Earth (not my own, but life in general) and end along with the planet. Now, I tend to think that my existence seems to exceed Earth or even this universe. Hence I've added a spiritual / celestial quality to my identity, and thought a lot about spiritual explanations that would match my experiences.
It's quite a long way from falcon to celestial dragon if you look at it. I think if my life would have taken another turn, in such that I'd have been busy with family or career even more, most of my identity would have stayed unrecognized.