Bayou Health | Birdsong Isn’t Just for the Birds

by Shannon Dahlum, FDN-P

Spending some time outside in the morning to expose your eyes to sunlight is important for balancing your circadian rhythm and triggering a healthy hormonal balance throughout the day. The sun’s rays powerfully influence the brain’s hormonal control center, but that isn’t the only health benefit to stepping outside every morning; the background music provided by the birds also plays a role in supporting the functioning of your body all day long.

Birds sing their songs to attract mates, defend their territories, and even for the simple pleasure of it. Unbeknownst to these delicate little feathered creatures, their melodies not only relay messages to other birds, but they also communicate powerful signals to the world around them.

When plants are exposed to the melodies of bird song, it causes them to vibrate, which triggers their stomata to open. Stomata are tiny openings that appear on leaves in the thousands, and they act as gates. When they open, they allow the plant to take in carbon dioxide. The stomata are essentially “mouths” on the plants that allow them to breathe. When these mouths are open, however, it makes the plant more vulnerable by exposing its insides to the elements and allowing moisture from within the plant to evaporate. Knowing when to open the stomata and when to close them is important for the plant’s survival. Light, temperature and humidity are all signals the plant uses for controlling the opening of their stomata, but the frequency of bird song is a signal of safety that can coax them open, too.

Hearing birdsong has a profound impact on your body’s functioning by sending a signal of safety to you, too. The harmonies sung by birds influences your autonomic nervous system to shift into a parasympathetic state. Your autonomic nervous system, or ANS, is responsible for controlling all of the functions in your body that are happening below the level of your conscious awareness. Your digestion, immune function, and hormone secretion are examples of functions that are driven by your ANS.

The ANS has two branches; the sympathetic side and parasympathetic side. When the ANS senses a threat of any kind, it shifts into a sympathetic, or stress state. This down regulates functions that aren’t necessary for immediate survival in order to conserve energy for the fight or flight response. Digestive function, immune function, hormone production, even memory and cognition can all be down regulated in order to save energy for escaping the perceived threat, whatever it may be. In contrast, when the ANS moves back into a parasympathetic state, energy shifts back to supporting the healthy functioning of all of those internal systems. In order for healing, growth, and recovery to take place in the body the ANS has to be in a parasympathetic state, which is triggered by a sense of safety. When the ANS remains in a heightened sympathetic state for extended periods of time (known as chronic stress), this causes the body to slowly break down and chronic disease can eventually set in.

How does hearing the melody sung by birds move your nervous system from a stimulated sympathetic state into a healing parasympathetic state? The answer to this lies in your ancient history. Birds are keenly attuned to their environments and sing only when their environment is free of danger. Your early ancestors knew this and understood the melodic chirping of birds as a sign that the environment was free of predators. To them it was a sign of peace and safety that triggered their nervous systems to relax. You also evolved subconsciously knowing this signal and your nervous system still responds in this way today.

Another evolutionary influence on this phenomenon may have to do with the fact that you have a genetically built-in preference for nature. Since your ancestors spent thousands of years living in the great outdoors, you likely evolved to have a keen sense of environments that are suitable for survival. Outdoor areas with abundant resources such as water, plants, and animals were attractive to your ancestors because they were more likely to support their survival.

Hearing birdsong was an indicator that life was present there, which implied the potential for their own survival, as well. This is another possible reason that hearing birds singing can bring a sense of safety to your nervous system today.

The melodies of birds not only has a direct impact on your nervous system, but it may also positively influence your mental health. Research done at King’s College in London found that seeing or hearing birds is associated with improvements in mental wellbeing that can last for up to 8 hours. Another study, published in Scientific Reports, found that listening to birdsong alleviated anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants. Researchers in yet another study saw improvements in mood, cognition, and stress reduction in its participants after they listened to birdsong, while traffic sounds worsened wellbeing in those areas. Studies like these have inspired researchers to begin exploring the impact of playing recordings of birds and other nature sounds in hospitals and mental health facilities to decrease stress and improve healing among patients.

One of the most important things you can provide for your body to support long term physical and mental health is a sense of safety. When the nervous system senses safety, internal bodily functions necessary for health are supported, and growth and healing are promoted. Healing simply won’t happen in a body that’s controlled by a nervous system “stuck” in a sympathetic state.

Many of the wellness tips you likely already know help to signal safety to the nervous system and move the body into a healing state; consistently balanced nutrition, blood sugar regulation, consistent sleep and movement routines, regular meditation, daily morning sun exposure, etc. For some, many of these habits can be difficult to implement regularly, but now you know of one healthy habit that may be the simplest, most pleasant to incorporate; step outside or open a window and just listen. Let the birds sing your nervous system to safety and your body into a healing state.