{"id":20813,"date":"2026-07-26T14:19:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/?p=20813"},"modified":"2026-07-26T14:19:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:19:32","slug":"bird-brained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/bird-brained\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird brained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m on a mini quest this year to see if I can hear or see 365 different species of birds. <\/strong>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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s something about how this activity is so good for you:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

interconnected learning associated with birding may lead to structural and functional changes through neuroplasticity\u2014the brain\u2019s 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\u2014movement, shape, and sound\u2014requires adaptive thinking and integrating our senses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cBirding combines multiple factors we know support cognitive and mental health\u2014like nature exposure, social interaction, and novelty\u2014into one activity,\u201d Wing says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though it demands high-level thinking, birding is also a form of mental rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBirding helps interrupt cycles of stress and rumination by directing attention outward,\u201d Wing says, referencing a 2022 study by German scientists published in the journal\u00a0Scientific Reports<\/em>\u00a0that documented how\u00a0listening to birdsong reduces anxiety in people<\/a>. Birding, he says, offers \u201ca moving, engaging focus in the natural world.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piBp1-5pH","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20814,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20813\/revisions\/20814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}