Watch the birdie!

On the mental wellbeing benefits of birdwatching.

Jan 24, 2024

Welcome to this week’s Compassionate Nature post which considers the mental health benefits that might be obtained from watching birds.

A bird that represented freedom more than any other creature, a piece of living magic.

Not many of us will experience the intensity of connection with a bird that Hannah Bourne-Taylor did. Through her nursing of an abandoned finch, developing a bond strong enough for the fledgling to nestle within her hair before it was mature enough to rejoin a flock, a two way relationship was established. As she cared for it, so the bird gave back to Hannah by helping her address a sense of isolation and loss of identity, which she lovingly recounts in Fledgling.

Even without that kind of connection you may recognise the magic in birds that Hannah’s words refer to.

gray and yellow bird standing on tree branch — Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash

A lot is written about the deep bonds that humans have with domesticated animals such as dog and cats (not that birds share a bond with the latter!) but as Tim Birkhead explores in Birds and Us, there is a long cultural connection between human and birds, alongside our use of them for food and recreation. These connections often have a magical, spiritual or supernatural sense to them. The ancient Egyptians mummified millions of birds to assist in the afterlife and as gifts to their gods, while the Greeks and Romans saw birds as special due to their vocal and learning skills which were suggestive of divine abilities. Across the ages specific birds have had apparent magical powers, from vultures as bearers of omens through to the phoenix rebirth amongst the flames. Birds or parts of birds have been used to denote status or spiritual roles within many cultures, from the use of plumage within religious contexts through to military uniforms and fashion, while bird of prey ownership was a way of highlighting social rank within European medieval societies. Tim’s book features a wonderful quote from a 1714 book by John Ray which eloquently considers the emotional connection with birds:

“They gratify our Ears; by their beautiful Shapes and Colours, they delight our Eyes, being very ornamental to the World, and rendering the Country where the Hedges and Woods are full of them, very pleasant and chearly, which without them would no less lonely and melancholy.”

Reading Tim’s book made me think of the stories we tell that involve birds. They appear to bookend human life, from the stork bringing the new born, through to the raven heralding misfortune and death. They are linked to seasonal events, none more than perhaps the robin and Christmas.

Perhaps this deep emotional connection is why so many people in the UK look after garden birds or go birdwatching. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) estimate that around 3 million adults in the UK regularly go birdwatching while in 2019 they reported that UK household annual spending on feeding birds was between £200-300 million. Since 1979 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has held the Big Garden Birdwatching event. A citizen science project where people record the birds that visit their garden during a one hour period over a weekend in late January and submit the results to the RSPB. It is reported to be the world’s largest survey of garden wildlife, with hundreds of thousands of people taking part and currently in excess of 325,000 people signed up for the 2024 event. The collated data provides important insight into trends on bird species populations and locations. Sadly, while humans appear to have a cultural, even a spiritual connection with birds, our activities throughout history haven’t always been helpful to them. This is especially true though the impacts from recent environment degradation and climate change, resulting in these surveys indicating that bird populations are rapidly declining, with many species common to UK gardens on the BTO’s red list of endangered species.

So it appears we have strong cultural and emotional connections to birds. What do some recent psychological studies tell us about that connection and what are the wellbeing benefits it may provide?

Birds in the city.

Birds are perhaps one of the most noticeable forms of wildlife, especially with urban settings, both visually and audibly. Their presence within towns and cities may provide benefits to mental health, perhaps helping to offset some of the negative health aspects of urban life. In a large scale study of residential areas within Beijing, Shilin Xie and colleagues found that noticing and watching birds appeared to offer wellbeing benefits greater than those afforded from appreciating vegetation within urban green spaces. They selected 27 residential communities within Beijing city and assessed the levels of vegetation and bird populations across different periods of time during 2017 to 2018. A sample of 568 residents were assessed for levels of nature interaction, perceptions of biodiversity and measures of mental wellbeing The participants were mainly adults, with 29 under 18, and slightly more (53%) were female. The majority of the participants noticed birds regularly in their local environment, which they reported often resulted in a positive emotional response. As part of noticing the birds, the ability to identify bird species to inform a perceived level of the different bird populations was a key factor to wellbeing, despite this often being different to the actual level. This finding replicates other studies which have found that perceived levels of biodiversity have a greater positive effect on wellbeing than actual levels. The study highlights that the act of birdwatching provides a simple and effective way to interact with nature even within the constraints of a large populous city, with those who intentionally watch birds appearing to experience greater benefits to their mental wellbeing. The study has a big sample size and included a large area of Beijing city for the land and avian survey, although it is hard to mitigate confounding variables that may affect the results. For example, no casual link can be inferred between intentional birdwatching and greater reported wellbeing benefits as a number of personal and social factors could be the cause of this difference.

The more the merrier.

That study suggests that perceiving a greater diversity of bird species was a moderating influence on the wellbeing benefits afforded from noticing or watching birds. A team from the University of Tübingen carried out a field study which also explored this aspect in a more controlled manner. In the study by Christophe Randler and colleagues (2023), participants were taken on a guided bird walk around a suburban blue space in Germany to examine the effects on their psychological restoration. The study was informed by the Attention Restoration Theory proposed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan (1989) which suggests that natural stimuli which are engaging but not overly demanding provide restorative benefits to cognitive processes such as attention, which is often referred to as “soft fascination”. Birdwatching supports this by providing an opportunity to experience nature rather than more passive contact. The study had a number of aims, including assessing the relationship between restoration to bird diversity and restoration to level of interest and knowledge about birds. Participants were from the University student population, with 132 taking part, of which the majority were female and had varying levels of interest in and knowledge of birds. Five 2-hour guided walks took place across a number of days, with between 20-30 people in each group. During the walk the participants were helped to spot and identify birds, with the number of species varying from 35 to 43 across the walks. The results found that restoration benefits positively correlated with bird species, supporting the view that greater diversity affords more benefit. Additionally the study found that the benefits were not influenced by level of interest or knowledge. The study is well designed and controlled for personality traits which I haven’t covered, although it is limited by the sample demographics and lacks a control group, so a replication study could have a group go on a similar walk without the bird watching to compare benefits. The results do suggest that a short guided birdwatching walk can provide wellbeing benefits irrespective of prior knowledge or interest in birds which supports the potential use of it as a general public health or social prescribing activity.

a man taking a picture of a forest with a camera — Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Getting emotional.

The two studies covered so far indicate that intentionally experiencing nature through birdwatching affords benefits that are greater than just contact with nature may provide, which is supportive of other research on nature connectedness. One way of deepening that experience is to notice what you feel when noticing something in nature, which a study from the University of Derby by Maria White and colleagues (2023) considered. It was a pilot study to examine if noticing a positive emotional response provided greater wellbeing benefits and whether bird species characteristics influenced that response. The sample of 156 adult participants, average age of 54 and predominately female (78%) were randomly allocated to two groups to observe birds at a feeder over a 30 minute period. Both groups were asked to identify and count the number of birds, in a similar way to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch does, with one group also asked to record the sense of joy they felt from seeing the birds. Baseline and post-activity self-report measures of nature connection and mental wellbeing were taken, with the results indicating that positive benefits were found in both groups from the activity, with a greater decrease in anxiety within the joy group. Bird characteristics were considered through size and colour, with smaller bird species, such as tits, providing greater joy while larger birds such as pigeons provided less. The birds colouration was not a significant influence. However irrespective of the differences in joy, these characteristics did not affect the reported wellbeing benefits from observing the birds. It is a pilot study and sample recruitment may have resulted in a biased sample with high levels of nature connection, knowledge and interest in birds, although as noted from the previous study those last two factors may not be influential upon wellbeing benefits. I wondered about the role of birdsong as a characteristic towards joy, which perhaps could be explored in a similar study. The study does provide further evidence that even a short 30 minute period of watching birds can provide a boost to mental wellbeing and positive affect.

As a health intervention.

Joe Harkness (2023) views birdwatching as a way “to contemplate my place in the natural rhythms of our shared world. It reminds me that I am a part of nature.’ For Joe birdwatching was key to his recovery following a mental health crisis and for the ongoing management of his mental health. He now champions it as part of his work within special education and highlights the potential of birdwatching within nature based social prescribing interventions. A study across a large number of German nursing homes by Patricia Zieris and colleagues (2023) also highlights how beneficial birdwatching could be as a more formal health intervention. As we get older we experience reductions in mobility and cognitive functions. The study aimed to assess if informal birdwatching could help to address those reductions and provide a suitable way of connecting with nature for the residents. The study was held across 61 nursing homes in Bavaria used a mixed design, including longitudinal analysis and a control group, to assess the benefits to residents from the installation of bird feeding stations. The overall sample size was 1206 participants , 70% of whom were female, with ages ranging from 44 to 102 years old (mean age 83), with their mental and social wellbeing levels assessed during the study. Bird feeding stations were installed in areas of the homes that were visible from within and that were also easily accessible outdoors to encourage residents to help maintain the bird feed. This enabled bird feeding and bird watching to become part of the daily routine of the homes, encouraging residents interest and motivation to be involved. The study found improvements in residents cognitive function, including memory, and in their mobility, where even the simple task of going to the window to watch the birds provided a motivation to move. There was also improvement in overall social wellbeing, from talking about the birds and being involved with maintaining the feeding stations. A subset of the sample provided measurements over time periods of up to 11 months which indicated that benefits continued to be provided from the intervention. The study does not differentiate between the benefits afforded to residents who just observed or those who took part in maintaining the bird feeders, which could be explored separately. The study does indicate that watching and supporting birds can provide a relatively low cost, accessible activity that can be easily introduced into a care setting to provide both physical and mental benefits to residents, highlighting how it could be used as a formal health intervention.

a bird is eating from a bird feeder — Photo by Ali Kurmasha on Unsplash

Birds have provided a long cultural association to humans, from spiritual meaning through to the simple pleasure from noticing them. Experiencing nature via activities such as birdwatching, whether undertaken as a formal activity or more informally through noticing them in the garden or out in the street, can provide mental wellbeing benefits of positive affect and restoration which appear applicable across different cultures. These benefits appear to be available irrespective of the level of interest in or knowledge about birds and so birdwatching may provide a simple, accessible aid to health and wellbeing that can be enjoyed across different settings. In a period of species decline for many birds, perhaps by paying more attention to them we can be motivated to support them too. No doubt birds will feature in future posts on Compassionate Nature, perhaps to explore birdsong which hasn’t really featured in this post.

For me the words of Emily Dickinson’s often come to mind whenever I hear birdsong or spot a bird at the feeder or splashing in the bird bath.

“Hope is the thing with feathers,
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words “

If a bird can bring a sense of joy and hope into daily life then that truly is magical.

If you are in the UK please do consider taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch running between 26 to 28th January. Not only will you be helping to support research, you will find you probably feel better for connecting with our feathered friends and the spaces we share

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Compassionate Nature

Watch the birdie!

On the mental wellbeing benefits of birdwatching.

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