This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: More than 56 million U.S. adults feed wild birds. For many, filling a feeder is a routine way to connect with birds and other wildlife.
But researchers know less about what that interaction may mean for the people doing it. A Virginia Tech-led study of people who feed birds in the United States and Canada found that most believed feeding and watching birds had a positive effect on their well-being. The study also identified three ways people described that connection: through emotions, engagement and a sense of meaning.
"Feeding and observing birds is a really meaningful way for people to connect with nature, and people feel that it has positive impacts on their well-being," said Kelley Langhans, a research scientist at Virginia Tech and the study's lead author. The research was published Sept. 2 in Ambio. The research team included scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and a therapist.
Researchers surveyed participants in Project FeederWatch—people who submit their winter bird-feeding observations to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology—before and after the six-month FeederWatch season. They measured well-being using a common mental well-being questionnaire and later asked participants to reflect on how feeding and observing birds had affected them. At the end of the season, 95% of people said feeding and observing birds had positively affected their well-being.
By comparison, 55% said other events in their lives had a positive effect over the same period. Emotions were the most common way people felt feeding and observing birds affected their well-being. People described feeling joy, gratitude, hope and calm when they fed birds.
Some said watching birds helped reduce stress or gave them something positive to focus on during difficult periods, such as illness or a death in the family. Others described engagement in the activity. Watching feeders sparked curiosity, held their attention or helped them build bird-identification skills.
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