Bird brained

I’m on a mini quest this year to see if I can hear or see 365 different species of birds. Between trips to France, Costa Rica and Eastern North America I have logged 305 so far. I’m going to have to do some serious birding during the fall migrations to meet the target. But it’s not about the numbers. I love being in the world with birdsong everywhere. I’ve become a good bird-listener in recent years, being that my musical brain and my diminishing eyesight quality have shifted my senses. I’m good enough now with my ears that I can often identify an unknown birds by its genus before I get its species. Apps like Merlin help to make confirmations, or point my attention to quieter or high pushed bird calls I might be missing.

Here’s something about how this activity is so good for you:

interconnected learning associated with birding may lead to structural and functional changes through neuroplasticity—the brain’s capacity to rewire and adapt with experience. Wing says that there are multiple routes through which birding can sharpen perception and calm the mind. Identifying subtle patterns—movement, shape, and sound—requires adaptive thinking and integrating our senses. 

“Birding combines multiple factors we know support cognitive and mental health—like nature exposure, social interaction, and novelty—into one activity,” Wing says. 

And though it demands high-level thinking, birding is also a form of mental rest.

“Birding helps interrupt cycles of stress and rumination by directing attention outward,” Wing says, referencing a 2022 study by German scientists published in the journal Scientific Reports that documented how listening to birdsong reduces anxiety in people. Birding, he says, offers “a moving, engaging focus in the natural world.”