Can Bird Watching Benefit Your Health?

Welcome back and once again  Happy New Year.

This week the weather has turned brutally cold, which should bring even a larger number of birds to the feeders in search of food.  As I write this post, the wind chill is currently closing in on minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.  I wonder how any living thing can survive in these conditions.

American Tree Sparrows 

I have noticed for years that bird watching is very relaxing and enjoyable for me.  It helps to take my mind off of my normal daily routine and to think about something different,  This in turn helps to keep me more focused for my work.  Gardening also has many benefits, which I will cover at some point during the upcoming growing season.

So in what ways is bird watching beneficial?  I thought I would do a little research on the topic. There are many sources of information that I found, below I will summarize a couple of them.

According to Alive, an online health publication (http://www.alive.com/articles/view/23905/birding), bird watching has many benefits including:

• Even though bird watching can be done from the comfort of your home, sooner or later it will lure you outside to observe them in their natural habitat.  Birding can be an active outdoor pursuit, taking you to all different types of terrain, rural and urban, in all sorts of weather.  It will involve walking and maybe even biking, hiking, or canoeing.  It can even bring you the thrill of feeding a bird from your hand, which I have done quite a few times.

• Birding is most often a casual activity, but can also be taken seriously if you chose,  The beauty is you can chose your level of pursuit.  It can be very challenging, with many new learning opportunities.  As I have posted here in my blog, there are various online research projects that you can participate in involving bird watching,  including Project Feederwatch (http://feederwatch.org/) and the Great Outdoor Bird Count (http://gbbc.birdcount.org/).

• It is a great family activity, one that children will love and will help everyone involved to have quality time together and prove to be very educational as well.

Next, from Birds & Blooms magazine (http://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/birding-basics/birding-health/):

• As mentioned above, birding will eventually get you out side.  The benefits of just being outside are many, including elevating mood, Vitamin D production, and alleviating anxiety and depression.

• Bird watching will help you build a strong network of friends, which has been proven to help you stay healthy and happy.
• Birding involves many opportunities for new learning experiences which is known to help fight back against diseases such as Alzheimer's.  

Bird watching is also a great activity for the cold winter months if you don't like to go outside or can't for health reasons, etc.  It is a great activity for the elderly and can be beneficial for them.  It can be an enjoyable activity during the long winter months especially for someone who is house bound.

Birding and gardening also compliment each other very well as there are many flowers, shrubs, trees, etc. that can be planted to attract birds and help them to flourish in your yard.

So dust off the binoculars, put up a feeder, and enjoy.  I know you'll become interested and eventually birding can become a great hobby for you and family. 

White-Breasted Nuthatch & Black-Capped Chickadee

Next week, I will turn my focus back to gardening as I sort through my seeds to see what I have that's not outdated and what I need to buy for the upcoming season.

Until next time, and thanks for reading.