Tuning in to Birdsong

Butcherknife Creek - June 2020

​The soft breeze riffles the lime-green aspen leaves, popping out with abandon along gleaming white limbs. The ground is carpeted in purple and yellow wildflowers. Red, orange and purple tulips nod their heads, and yellow daffodils push up above lush grasses. It is spring, and birds are singing. 

Bird song is an enchanting accompaniment to the vibrant visual of the outdoors, although it can go unnoticed if we don’t pay attention. The sound of birds singing is a lovely gift. It has real and measurable perks for humans, and serves specific purposes for the birds themselves.

Bird song benefits our mental health. Studies have shown that hearing birdsong decreases feelings of depression and anxiety, and improves mental well-being, even hours later. The studies found significant improvement with listening to audio clips, but being outdoors provides the added benefits of physical exercise and being immersed in nature. 

Nature in general gives us a mental boost and reduces stress. As I wrote in my blog post
Nature Nurtures Our Well-Being, being fully engaged with the experience is where we truly gain positive results. That full engagement requires deliberate focus - not always simple to achieve. 

Has this ever happened to you? You’re wandering along, so lost in thought that you are completely oblivious to your surroundings. You are in a world of outer silence, inner noise. Suddenly, you remember that you’re out here to listen to the birds. Oops. You tune in. And, lo and behold, your ears are inundated by so much singing it’s like being at an open casting call for the musical Hamilton. 

This has certainly happened to me, more than a few times. But when I stop to pay attention to the sounds in the treetops high above me, bird calls and song, shrill and low, short chirps and long bars of sweet music, I am blown away by this free concert. 
Here are a few bird songs I’ve focused on long enough to take note of:

• The haunting call of the Sandhill Crane, echoing across the landscape. It is a repetitive call / gurgle, in the dawn-mist quiet at Pearl Lake. 
• The clicking, trilling, lilting, whistling, chirping, warbling tunes of the Yampa Core Trail Avian Choral Society.
• The panicked, discordant honking of geese as they wobble into flight. Is the fervor of their honking directly related to their wing-flap velocity?

With all this music, I am curious: why do birds sing? This article (Songbird Survival.org: Why do the birds sing) helped me understand why.

The main reasons birds sing:

• To claim territory
• To attract mates
• To take part in courtship rituals
• To communicate. 

In some bird species, only the males sing. A song can indicate - to possible competitors and potential mates - the capabilities of the male. A long, loud song is a mark of strength and endurance, and the ability to defend the territory. A more complex song indicates a male who’s been around long enough to skillfully accomplish that piece.

How lucky that the way in which birds communicate and strut their stuff is such a blessing to our ears. And how lucky too, that the sweet singing of birds benefits our well-being.


Originally published June 2023