Scientific Studies

In this 2026 paper, the authors (which include our network founder) look at how encounters with birds may play an important role in supporting mental health and overall well-being, especially in daily life where opportunities to experience other forms of nature may be limited.

To better understand this relationship, the researchers conducted a systematic scoping review examining how different types of interactions with birds have been investigated in connection with human health and well-being.

An overview of the benefits to human wellbeing that birding can bring.

This article cites the Mindful Birding Network

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.

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London has found that seeing or hearing birds is associated with an improvement in mental wellbeing that can last up to eight hours.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) have shown that birdsong reduces anxiety and irrational thoughts. Their findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports

Hikers exposed to the phantom chorus reported higher levels of restorative effects

Experiences in nature benefit humans in a variety of ways, including increasing health and well-being, reducing stress, inspiring creativity, enhancing learning, and fostering environmental stewardship values.

Spending at least two hours a week in nature may be a crucial threshold for promoting health and well-being, according to a new large-scale study.

Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly grabs attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-attention abilities a chance to replenish.

Playing 'natural sounds' affects the bodily systems that control the flight-or-fright and rest-digest autonomic nervous systems, with associated effects in the resting activity of the brain, new research shows.

This research show sthat bird species richness is positively associated with life-satisfaction across Europe. We found a relatively strong relationship, indicating that the effect of bird species richness on life-satisfaction may be of similar magnitude to that of income.

Nature and mental health are in an important relationship, especially in the context of stress reduction….Forest therapy and nature-based mindfulness are well-researched ecotherapeutic methods, and therapeutic ornithology is also recognised as a very popular and beneficial activity supporting mental wellbeing. However, only a limited number of studies have been carried out to explore the impact of combining these three different ecotherapeutic techniques.