Being Around Birds Makes Us Much Happier Says New Science

We see them almost everywhere we go, we hear them every day, they live in all environments, and now two new studies have shown that their mere presence makes us happier.

German research has even found that being around a wide variety of birds can offer increased life satisfaction equivalent to $ 150 per week of additional income.

On the surprising benefits of species diversity

The German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research took data from the 2012 European Quality of Life Survey to measure how the diversity of bird species affected 26,000 people in 26 European countries.

“According to our findings, the happiest Europeans are those who can experience many different bird species in their daily lives, or who live in near-natural environments that are home to many species,” explains the study’s lead author, Joel Methorst, a professor at the University. Goethe of Frankfurt, in a Press release.

PLUS: Photographer uses lock to take photos of amazing wild birds in the garden, all from the kitchen window

“We also examined the socio-economic data of the people who were surveyed and, to our surprise, we found that bird diversity is as important to their life satisfaction as their income,” explains Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese , also at Goethe University.

About birdsong and well-being

In the second featured study, California Polytechnic University covertly subjected Colorado hikers to a test that measured their sense of well-being by placing speakers that played a variety of birdsong along certain sections of a popular network of birds. hiking tests, then interviewing hikers their experience.

“While the larger picture of nature’s restorative properties is likely to involve multiple senses, our study is the first to experimentally manipulate just one (sound) in the field and demonstrate its importance for human experiences in nature.” said Danielle Ferraro, university press.

In fact, hikers in the tests who perceived both more sounds and more varied sounds said they felt better about life and their walking experience than those who heard fewer sounds and fewer sounds altogether.

Nesting season

The benefits of bird watching, listening to their song, noticing the species that surround us, is also a good thing. TO recent report The Audubon Society found that sales of bird feeders, bird food and bird watching applications have increased during the pandemic, while participation in the annual meeting of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Great World Day 2020 broke all previous records.

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During the Big Day, participants recorded 2.1 million sightings of 6,500 species. An all-time high of 50,000 participants submitted more than 120,000 checklists, breaking the previous single-day checklist total by 30%.

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Nesting season is fast approaching and with closures continuing in many states and countries, there has never been a better time to indulge in bird watching and, if you can, make your property a positive habitat for birds.

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