How birdsong helps us cope with everyday life

5 November 2026

UKRI-funded research is uncovering how the birds we hear can help us recover from stress, evoke memories and find moments of joy.

“I’ve recently been through surgery and lots of life changes and I want to de-stress. One of the things I will do is go and watch and listen to birds. It makes me feel better about myself and the day.”

For Steven Cockburn, 51, listening to birds is part of everyday life. He lives in Musselburgh, East Lothian, where the River Esk meets the sea. On morning walks with his dog, Trusty, he watches the birds come and go with the tides.

Geese honk nearby, robins tweet, gulls squawk and, in the mornings, song thrushes and wrens sing.

Sometimes he hears a bird he cannot see, which sparks a determination to identify it and keep lookout on future walks.

“I’m not an expert birdwatcher. I don’t have all the knowledge that some of my neighbours do. But I love to watch them, and I love the sounds. It’s almost transcendental.”

Researchers at the University of Surrey are exploring why experiences like Steven’s can make people feel better. Supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), their work reveals how birdsong connects with our memories, helps us recover from everyday stress and creates a sense of wonder.

Melissa Marselle

Birdsong creates happiness and reduces stress

Dr Melissa Marselle, an environmental psychologist at Surrey, explains: “Birdsong isn’t just beautiful. Research shows listening to birdsong is also good for you. It makes you feel happy, increases your ability to cope with stress and helps you think more clearly.”

As yet, nobody has been able to explain exactly why birdsong has this effect on humans.

Melissa says: “One theory is evolutionary: natural environments, including places where birds sing, can help us feel relaxed and safe. Another is that birdsong holds our attention effortlessly, offering an escape from the busyness of life and a chance to recover from mental fatigue.

Melissa has been exploring these effects alongside Dr Eleanor Ratcliffe, associate professor in environmental psychology at Surrey.

Their recent work brought together researchers at Surrey, the University of East Anglia and the University of Glasgow. It was supported through UKRI’s Economics of Biodiversity programme, jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council.

In a study involving 1,529 people across the UK, participants listened online to simulated natural soundscapes with different acoustic characteristics. They answered questions about wellbeing, stress, awe and how restorative they found the sounds. They also estimated how many different bird species they could hear.

People who perceived greater bird diversity reported better wellbeing, linked to lower perceived stress, a greater sense of restoration and more awe.

Melissa says: “Whatever the ‘how’, our research shows that it makes us feel a sense of wonder, a sense of awe. The more complex and melodic birdsong sounds to you, the more you think it sounds like there are lots of different types of birds making different sounds, the more powerful birdsong is at making you feel awe, relaxed, focused and happy.”

A sound that stays with you

Steven’s interest began when he was seven or eight, growing up in Gracemount in Edinburgh. A primary school teacher introduced him to the Young Ornithologists’ Club and a trip to Loch Leven in Fife. That introduction to birdwatching stayed with him: years later, serving with the army in Northern Ireland, birds offered companionship.

“I remember being in Northern Ireland, on patrol or standing on a gate, and the sound of the birds always kept me company,” he says.

Today, Steven works as an autism practitioner and advocacy worker. He finds mornings are the best time to listen to the birds near his house.

“It can be quite exciting. They’re all hungry and coming alive in the morning.

“I live in a coastal area now, but even when I lived in quite urban areas, I would hear all sorts of unfamiliar birdsong and use an app to identify them.

“I had some real surprises with the different birds that were living in or visiting an urban park.”

A newspaper article sparked a PhD

Eleanor wanted to understand people’s experiences of nature and wellbeing when she began her PhD at the University of Surrey in 2011.

An opinion piece in a national newspaper had caught her attention; it suggested birdsong could help people feel better in the darkest depths of winter. It was an appealing idea, but she found little research on soundscapes and recovery from stress.

Her PhD, supported by ESRC, investigated whether listening to birds could help people recover after stress or mental fatigue, and why some sounds felt more restorative than others.

Her work also showed that people’s responses went beyond the sound itself. Memories, associations and how people interpreted a bird’s call mattered.

“If we take the same bird sounds, people might have different interpretations. Experiences, childhood, the family home, people and places all play their part.”

The same call might remind one person of a much-loved garden and another of somewhere entirely different. People do not need to identify a species correctly to attach meaning to its sound.

“Birdsong isn’t monolithic,” says Eleanor. “There are nuances between birds and people.”

Eleanor Ratcliffe

Placing a value on birdsong

The team has also explored whether hearing birdsong changes how people value protecting nature.

A separate study was carried out as part of the same UKRI-funded project. University of Glasgow researchers Dr Anthony Higney and Professor Nick Hanley asked 1,094 UK adults how much they would be willing to pay to support hypothetical habitat conservation projects.

Some participants listened to short recordings of birdsong illustrating how bird diversity might change following habitat restoration. Others were given the same information about habitat quality, but without the accompanying sounds.

Those who heard birdsong stated that they were willing to pay substantially more for habitat restoration. Overall, estimates were around four to five times higher, although the effect was weaker for restoring woodland than for restoring grassland and farmland habitats.

The findings suggest that hearing nature can reveal value that descriptions alone may miss. People may place value on birdsong because it may make us feel more connected to nature, or highlight the wellbeing value we get from birdsong.

Birdsong holds our attention effortlessly, offering an escape from the busyness of life and a chance to recover from mental fatigue.

Dr Melissa Marselle

Environmental psychologist, University of Surrey

Safeguarding birdsong in the built environment

For these benefits to be part of daily life, birds need habitat where they can thrive.

“In order for us to hear birdsong where we live, a diversity of birdsong, there needs to be high-quality, diverse urban green space,” Melissa says. “Birds need a place to live, with water, shelter and food.”

The team’s continuing work also considers what else people hear. A further study, published in 2026, found that traffic noise could undermine the wellbeing benefits of natural soundscapes.

“Birdsong is great, but what else are people hearing in the soundscape with it?” asks Eleanor.

This research could help inform how green spaces are planned and managed, including protecting opportunities to hear nature. It could help inform approaches such as social prescribing, where people are supported by healthcare providers to take part in activities in nature to improve their wellbeing.

Eleanor hopes the research will encourage people to notice something familiar that can easily be overlooked.

“Birdsong can bring to light people’s experiences from the past, things that matter to them,” she says. “Connections between them, their family, nature. Places they go to in their mind, even if they’re not physically there.”

Where the researchers listen

Spending years analysing birdsong and people’s reaction to them hasn’t negatively affected the researchers’ enjoyment of birdsong.

Eleanor enjoys listening in the English flower garden in Battersea Park, where green parakeets are part of the experience.

“I know many people in London don’t find the sounds of parakeets pleasant, but I really enjoy them. They are very charismatic birds,” she says.

Melissa’s favourite place to hear birds is her own back garden. Living on a quiet cul-de-sac means she can hear them clearly, and she has added a pond to encourage them to stay nearby.

“I encourage those birds into my garden. I want them to stay nearby.”

Her invitation is simple: “Head outside, close your eyes and listen. Listening to birdsong tops us up. It’s like hitting the reset button.”

Watch a video about Melissa and Eleanor’s birdsong research at BBC Ideas.