Blog # 443 Why bird songs make me smile

June 15, 2023

The roar of a flock of snow geese taking off, courtesy of Fred Bertram.

Feeling blue? Go listen to the birds. No matter what time of year there are birds around. They are almost everywhere and give us a way to bond with nature.

Scientists report that seeing or hearing birds is beneficial to our mental well-being, and the more contact and interaction with nature the better it is for our bodies and brains.

Birdsongs connect people with nature; bird songs link us to natural environments. Even listening to song recordings can lighten your mood.

Birds Improve Mental Health

Researchers associate encounters with birds are associated with better mental health. In one study, 1,300 participants collected information about their environment and well-being three times a day including such as parameters as sleep quality, meals, subjective assessment of air quality, and their locations a day. The resultant 26,856 assessments presented a rich real-time picture of what is associated with mental well-being in the real world. The researchers found a significant positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being, even when accounting for other possible explanations. The effect was significant and long lasting. Participants reported seeing or hearing birds amplified their mental well-being hours later.

Snowy owl sitting on a hay bale, courtesy of Fred Bertram.

Interestingly, patients diagnosed with depression, one of the most common mental illnesses worldwide, also receive long-lasting benefits from their associations with birds and show positive effects toward birdsong and birdlife in the area.

Birdsongs Alleviate Anxiety and Paranoia

Another study found that listening to short, 6-minute audio clips of birdsongs reduces feelings of anxiety, depression, and paranoia in healthy participants. Researchers asked 295 online participants to self-assess their emotional states and to take a cognitive memory test. Then they randomly assigned the participants to listen to birdsongs or traffic noise. Participants who listened to the acoustical acrobatics of two to eight species reported a decrease in depressive symptoms in addition to significant decreases in feelings of anxiety and paranoia. By contrast, listening to traffic noise worsened symptoms of depressive states.

Why am I not surprised by the healing aspects of nature, and the stress-inducing effects of urban surroundings?

Adirondack mountain lake by Fred Bertram.

Why Nature and Birds May Benefit Us

Birds help connected us to nature and its health benefits, and the closer we are to nature, the more we can benefit from those effects. The “attention restoration theory” suggests that being in nature improves our concentration and decreases the mental fatigue associated with living in stressful urban environments. Previous research also showed that being in green outdoor spaces can lower blood pressure and cortisol levels.

It is not yet understood how birdsong affects our brains, but neuroimaging studies have found stress reduction from other forms of natural exposure. Taking a walk-in nature versus in an urban environment decreases the amount of unhealthy rumination or repetitive thinking, which is associated with depression and other mental illnesses, and decreased activity in a part of the brain’s prefrontal cortex associated with rumination. Viewing green scenery engages the posterior cingulate cortex, which processes behavioral stress and regulates stress responses. Going out to see birds also encourages physical activity which has its own array of mental health benefits.

When we go outside, it is easy to forget the birds and not pay attention. To get nature’s benefits, all that you need to do enhancing the time that you spend outdoors.”

Loon in an Adirondack lake, courtesy of Fred Bertram.

Identifying birdsongs is easy using smartphone apps such as Merlin Bird ID and BirdNet, both produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. These apps identify the bird singing and show its spectrogram. Watch and listen to birds in your own backyard or join a birding group such as the Cayuga Bird Club to meet other birders in your area.

Eyes to the sky!

Candace

Candace E. Cornell

Friends of Salt Point, Lansing, NY

Cayuga Lake Osprey Network

cec222@gmail.com

Guest Photographer:

Fred Bertram, artist extraordinaire and a delightful, kind human, Union Springs, NY.