Watching birds near your home is good for your mental health - official

[rangerrebew]

Watching birds near your home is good for your mental health - official
Published: Tuesday 28 February 2017
 

People living in neighbourhoods with more birds, shrubs and trees are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress, according to research by academics at the University of Exeter, the British Trust for Ornithology and the University of Queensland.

The study, involving hundreds of people, found benefits for mental health of being able to see birds, shrubs and trees around the home, whether people lived in urban or more leafy suburban neighbourhoods.

The study, which surveyed mental health in over 270 people from different ages, incomes and ethnicities, also found that those who spent less time out of doors than usual in the previous week were more likely to report they were anxious or depressed.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/316103.php

[Gefn]

There's a really pretty bird on today's Bing cover page,

It's made me smile looking at it.

🕊🦅🐦🐧🐣🐥🦆

[Jazzhead]

Makes sense to me.  I've stopped driving to work, and instead walk to the train station.    Along the way as the sun rises,  listening to the conference of the birds is fascinating.    Some of 'em sound like they could be jazzheads,   

[Polly Ticks]

A couple of years ago when I started working on much higher profile projects, I put some bird feeders outside my office window -- a regular feeder, a finch feeder, and a hummingbird feeder.  I have to refill the feeders every time I turn around twice and sometimes they make an awful mess, but I love watching the birds and it is definitely good for my blood pressure.

[Cripplecreek]

Birds I got

[Cripplecreek]

There's a really pretty bird on today's Bing cover page,

It's made me smile looking at it.

🕊🦅🐦🐧🐣🐥🦆

You must be running a day behind me somehow. Yesterday I had a finch on my bing cover. Today its Mexico city.

[andy58-in-nh]

That's one of the reasons why I've got a big bird feeder in my backyard.

My cat loves the bird show, I get to take photos of them, the squirrels love the fallen seeds and my dog loves chasing the squirrels. It's a win-win all around.

[Applewood]

I think observing most of God's creatures, other than a lot of humans, tends to relieve stress and improve mood. A few weeks ago, a friend and I visited the local aviary. Saw some birds I never heard of before.  One of them was a Great Argus Pheasant.  This bird was huge with a long plume of a tail that he would display much like a peacock, only his display wasn't as colorful.  This peasant  kept following my friend all over the place, displaying his plumage.  I told my friend I think he's courting you.  We had a good laugh.  Needless to say, the visit to the aviary was a good mood lifter.

[GtHawk]

Well with summer just around the corner, and us living so close to the beach now, I will be watching many of the colorful, lightly plumed  Birds as they frolic on the sand and in the water, and that will definitely give a feeling of mental wellbeing.

[Polly Ticks]

This is SO much nicer than the spider thread.

[GrouchoTex]

Watching birds near your home is good for your mental health....

....unless they're buzzards or vultures.

[thackney]

Watching birds near your home is good for your mental health....

....unless they're buzzards or vultures.

Watching vultures nearby is good for your physical health.  Good incentive to keep moving and not goof off too long...

[truth_seeker]

Well with summer just around the corner, and us living so close to the beach now, I will be watching many of the colorful, lightly plumed  Birds as they frolic on the sand and in the water, and that will definitely give a feeling of mental wellbeing.

The Coastal Wetlands along the Pacific Coast are on the migratory path of many bird species back and forth, north to south to north. Then there are the ones that stay put, like seagulls.

It is very common in California to be both a political Conservative and a Conservationist. Many of the wetlands are being preserved, and restored if they are highly degraded.

In Huntington Beach, about 1/2 of the ten mile coastline will be restored wetlands; named "Bolsa Chica," "Newland," "Magnolia," "Brookhurst" and "Talbert."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQKXZH9gxQk

http://www.hbwetlands.org/whatwedo.php

[truth_seeker]

Watching birds is good for mental health, and fortunately I continue to practice that discipline as my years advance

[guitar4jesus]

We are really blessed to have so many species of birds on our property.  I enjoy watching them every day.

[mountaineer]

This is SO much nicer than the spider thread.

I almost started a thread on the story from Indonesia about a man eaten by a python. (video here)
His friends cut open the creature and found the man's body, reportedly - and it's all on video.
Ewww.