The Unexpected Healing Power of Birdsong
This might be the easiest mental health hack there is
Have you ever thought about how calming it is to hear birds singing? You may have appreciated birdsong during a walk in the forest, but even in the middle of Chicago, I can hear birds outside my window.
During my walks outside, even in the middle of winter, there are little fluff balls with beaks that are incredibly chatty and make quite a racket, in the best possible way. Trees and bushes can be filled with these little guys. Personal space is clearly not an issue for them.
I should know their proper name, but do not. They are about the size of a tennis ball with a small beak and big attitude, and they crack me up. I call them “little fat birds.”
What I didn’t realize, at least consciously, was that birdsong is very healing for humans. It can take down our stress and anxiety pretty quickly, and is effective for relieving depression as well.
And hearing birdsong can relax us for hours afterward. I remember Mel Robbins citing research on this in one of her podcasts.
In the mornings I usually have real birds singing outside my window, but when I do not, I ask my smart speakers to "play forest sounds." Forest sounds include birds, insects, and other sounds. Apparently, the effect on your nervous system is the same whether it is live or recorded, which I thought was really interesting.
According to this article on stress.org:
In a 2022 study involving 295 randomized participants, Emil Stobbe and colleagues found that exposure to birdsongs lowers anxiety and reduces paranoia. (At the same time, exposure to traffic noise increases depression.)
Another study, involving more than a thousand self-selected respondents, primarily from the United Kingdom, but also from the European Union, U.S., China, and Australia, concluded that “Everyday encounters with birdlife were associated with time-lasting improvements in mental well-being. These improvements were evident not only in healthy people but also in those with a diagnosis of depression, the most common mental illness across the world.” The study indicated that the effect of birds was greater than what would be expected by being exposed to green spaces. In other words, while nature, in general, has a salutary effect, seeing and hearing birds went beyond that of the outdoors by itself.
Hearing birdsongs seems to be an antidote to everyday stress and is effective even when mediated through earphones or while indoors.
I didn’t read this in the research, but I wonder if hearing birdsong affects us this way because birds going quiet was an early warning for early humans that something was wrong - like a tiger was lurking behind a bush. Therefore, when birds are chatting away, humans may feel that things are okay for the moment.
In a time when we seem to be desperate for a little peace, or sanctuary, as we call it here, consider this incredibly easy life hack for feeling better and more connected to the natural world.
Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash