Bird Photography with marysejansenart
Birdwatching Popular Nature-based Activity
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Daily Dose of Birdsong good for Mental Health
When I open the window of my big city hotel, I am confronted with a lot of noise from traffic and machinery. Not to mention the smell of the fumes… I quickly close my window again. I never last long in these kinds of places and much prefer an accommodation with more nature around me, so that when I open my window, I can breathe in fresh air and listen to birdsong!
The city noises I experienced are more then just unpleasant, as this study has shown: traffic noise stresses our nervous system and consequently negatively impacts our mental health. It actually increases the risk of depression! At the same time a symphony of birdsong is not only beautiful to listen to, it has very positive effects on our experience of mental well-being! It has been shown to decrease anxiety levels and even reduce feelings of paranoia!
People like birds!
Another study shows that everyday encounters with birdlife are associated with 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
Most people experience birdsong as restorative from psychological stress and attentional fatigue. There is no doubt that listening to birdsong is good for your mental well-being!
It is clear: people like birds. In fact, birdwatching is one of the most popular nature-based recreational activities. This is not unique to the western world but it’s a world wide phenomenon!
Use your sense of hearing while birdwatching!
It can be a lot of fun to follow the sound to its source and spot which bird was responsible. The more you do it, the more you begin to recognize the different species. You might even come to the point of recognizing the variety of calls that one bird species can make.
Some species have a very complex communication system! Read for example my post about the Noisy Miner birds, which have different alarm calls for different situations! Or check out my post about one of the most vocally complex songbirds in the world: the Australian Magpie! One of my favourites is the story about the signature song of a family of Laughing Kookaburras!
What is your favourite birdsong? Please share in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!
Watching birds is also a rewarding activity as most birds are quite active and social so there are a lot of different behaviours to entertain you. And of course their looks are interesting too. Whether you are admiring the splendid iridescent colours of a Variegated Fairy-wren, the elegant stature of an Eastern Great Egret, or the cute appearance of a Boobook Owl, every species has its own charm.
Annual Aussie Bird Count
So this leads me to one of my favourite Nature Connection activities of the year: the Aussie Bird Count! It is on this week, 14-20 October 2024. And I am going to take 20 minute right now, in my own backyard, to observe and count the birds!
It seems to be a bit of a dull time of the day to do it, it’s late morning and overcast, quiet weather conditions. Straight away I can hear a Spotted Turtle Dove cooing, he is one of my resident birds. I also hear a Torresian Crow call out to another crow a few trees further. Their calls go back and forth. I wonder what they are talking about!
Every now and then the shrill calls of a couple of Rainbow Lorikeets grab my attention as they fly overhead like kamikazes!
Noisy Miners are all around me. Some are feeding, some fly over and over the fence I can hear a chick calling out to its family to let them know its hungry. The moment one of the mature birds is approaching with a snack they announce themselves with a particular call as well.
Some birds are not vocalizing and pass by, flying in silence so I need my eyes too! Amongst them are 2 Welcome Swallows. These little birds are a lot more vocal when they sit down and are pleasant to listen to with their soft twittering and warbling calls.
Furthermore an Australian White Ibis flies over and a couple of Blue-faced Honeyeaters. Those honeyaters can be very noisy, but right now they are not. All in all, I count 32 birds which is still quite a lot at such a quiet time of the day.! That’s one of the fun aspects of this exercise: when you pay close attention you always see more then you would expect!
I’d love to encourage you to do your own bird count, whether you are in Australia or not, just because it’s so much fun and a really good nature connection exercise! And share your observations in the comments below!
If you are in Australia it is a great idea to submit your count to Birdlife Australia. The results give them good information about the trends in bird communities from year to year. And that is important because it gives a good indication of the health of our environment. As Birdlife Australia states it” “Think of birds as a barometer for nature!”
If you are interested in purchasing a print of the featured image ‘Speckled Warbler’ or would like to see what it looks like on the various products, please head to my shop.
