Tuning Into Birdsong
A growing body of empirical evidence is revealing the benefits of nature for mental health, including higher mental wellbeing and lower risk of mental illness. - 2022 Article in the Journal Nature on the Mental health Benefits of Birdlife.
The health Benefits of listening to Birdsong
“On the whole, birds appear to be the most aesthetic of all animals, excepting of course man, and they have nearly the same taste for the beautiful as we have.”- Charles Darwin 1871
I have long been fascinated with the songs of birds. Growing up in New Zealand, I would escape to the rainforest whenever I could. There in the deep forest the native birds would call out their ancient songs. On the pastured edge of the forest the birds introduced by the European settlers offered a more cacophonous interplay, reminiscent of the sounds of a city, but deep in the forest the native birds sang out songs that resonated purely from the land itself. In recent years a concerted effort has been made in New Zealand to protect and preserve the native birds, with some species verging on extinction. One bird in particular, the tui, a bird with an effervescent black coat like a raven, and an incongruous bib of white feathers at its throat, has moved from the deep forest and the protected island sanctuaries into suburbia. You can hear the tui’s jazz- like riff as the first notes on my new album Forest Bathing.
Birdsong is a unique sound, almost musical to our ears. It has long been credited as the source and inspiration of human music. In Ancient China, 5,000 years ago, the legendary Yellow Emperor instructed his court musician, Ling Lun, to formalize the rules of music and define the laws of harmony in order to bring about an evolution in music. Ling Lun spent many days in deep contemplation. His quest for the perfect sound ultimately led him to the the sacred Kunlun Mountains, the home of the legendary Phoenix bird.
After days of silence, Lin Lung finally heard the song of the Phoenix. A male and a female bird circled him singing. Lin Lung absorbed the sound, noticing the differences between the male and female, loud and soft, piercing and sonorous, strident and soothing. From the song of the Phoenix, Lin Lung formed the first 12 laws of music. When Lin Lung returned to court, the Yellow Emperor immediately recognized the order inherent in music and began formalizing a ruling structure for government as well as the foundations of Chinese medicine, all based on the inviolable rules of harmony.
A revival of ancient musical instruments and music in Aotearoa, New Zealand gained momentum in the 1980s. “Ancient musicians are known to have taken inspiration from natural sounds: accordingly, these natural sounds and the voices the instruments are able to produce have been important in the revival process.” - Taonga Puoro, Singing Treasures, Brian Flintoff. The native birds of New Zealand are particularly melodic, and it is symbolic that the return of the birdsong is mirrored in the return of the ancient music.
Birds have a unique song creation mechanism. Unlike humans, whose soundmaking apparatus, the larynx, is situated high in the throat, song birds have a simpler organ called a syrinx that is located much closer to the source of air, the lungs. However they have a complex musculature and, in fact, a syrinx on each side, allowing them to produce two notes at once. These notes are not necessarily harmonically related. This accounts for the the complex tonality of birdsong that is at once melodic but not quite musical to our ears.
The frequency range of birdsong is in the sweet spot of human hearing, 1,000 - 10,000 Hz. We are attuned to birdsong, and in our not so distant past the warning calls of birds were not just a signal of danger for other birds, but also for humans.
Interestingly, the chirping sound a smoke detector makes, warning of an impending battery failure, is very similar to a small bird’s distress call when you are approaching its nest. As well, many of the warning or reminder/attention sounds on our devices mimic the sharp-edged warning chirps of a bird. Our attunement to these sounds is primal and immediately captures our attention. (Try ignoring that smoke detector chirp!) People who work in high-stress environments, such as hospitals, are surrounded by these beeps and chirps daily, and these alarm sounds can contribute to their stress response.
I have noticed, during our field-recording adventures in the rainforest, that the first bird sounds are staccato and discordant. Only after a few minutes, when the forest has accepted our presence, does the melodic communication continue and evolve. These are the bird songs that induce the pleasure principle and promote lowering of stress levels. These are the sounds I use in my music.
Birdsong has a powerful mythical significance for humanity, but increasingly we are finding evidence of a range of health benefits from listening to our avian companions’ songs.
From using birdsong soundtracks as a sleep aid to studies showing an improvement in cognitive function when birdsong is played in the background. “A growing body of empirical evidence is revealing the benefits of nature for mental health, including higher mental wellbeing and lower risk of mental illness.” - 2022 Article in the Journal Nature on the Mental Health Benefits of Birdlife. While nothing can replace a walk in the woods, research is showing that listening to the recorded sounds of birds can have a similar effect as being in the natural environment.
Another 2022 study also in the journal Nature, found that listening to birdsong can reduce feelings of anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants. Birdsong is one of the foundational elements in the cumulative effects of Forest Bathing, boosting the immune system. A 2018 study found that people who immersed themselves in a natural environment that included birdsong for 30 minutes had a higher level of natural killer cells, which are white blood cells that help to fight infection. Even a brief exposure to a virtual forest environment has been shown to improve mental wellbeing in adolescents.
Listening to birdsong has also been shown to improve mood and cognitive function. A 2019 study found that people who listened to birdsong for 10 minutes performed better on cognitive tests than those who did not listen to birdsong.
As with many sounds in our daily lives birdsong is easy to miss. If it is always there in the background we might not notice, but we would be more inclined to notice if it was missing. One friend recalled moving to a colder climate in January, remembering how much she missed the birdsong, and clearly remembering the first song in spring. Similarly, when I left the subtropical climate of New Zealand, where birdsong was omnipresent, for Tennessee, which is much quieter in the winter, I experienced a subtle sense of loss. Something was missing! The harbingers of spring, the dawn chorus birds call us to a more elemental understanding of our inescapable part in nature, and if we listen there is benefit to our well-being that can be studied but not truly quantified.
References:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.903857/full
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150916162120.htm
