Listening deeply to the sounds of birds is a powerful form of meditation and a first step towards a rewarding new hobby
I stumbled out of my tent and zipped the flap quietly, so as not to wake April and the kids. I brewed a cup of gritty coffee in the dark, grabbed my binoculars, and slinked through the sleeping campsite to a cliff overlooking the river. I had just settled down on a flat rock and taken a sip when the show began.
It opened with a solo, a few metres behind me. (What confidence to cut through the silence!) The singer, a mountain chickadee, paused for a moment and then sang again. (Is he always the first one up, like me?) Then came the response, a perfect copy of the first male’s song, but from the other side of the river. The rest of the symphony joined in. Waxwings tinkled and trilled as they chased down insects on the wing and shoved them into their kids’ mouths. (Are they annoyed by the begging? Maybe I’m projecting.) Warblers flirted and thrushes warbled. The songs came in layers and waves.
The more deeply I listened to the sounds of the birds, the more I heard. I disappeared entirely.
The benefits of birdsong
This scene unfolded during the summer as my family was car-camping with friends and relatives at Castle Falls Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. My younger, more cynical self would have called it a dusty campground crowded with RVs and extended cab trucks. If I could talk to that younger self, I would pass on a lesson I’ve learned at work: nature is all around. You just have to listen for it.
Even casual exposure to bird sounds can reduce stress and restore a sense of wellbeing
I am a scientist who studies how birds use their songs to communicate, so my work has me spending hours in the field recording birds. On a typical day, I’m in the tropical forest long before dawn. I stand near a tree with a microphone, waiting for the bird that lives there to wake up and sing. When it finally does, I whisper ‘bird’ into the microphone. It’s a message to my future self that the bird on the recording is the one I meant to record. As the dawn chorus ramps up, I focus ever more on the sound of that bird. I whisper ‘bird’ after each of its songs, like a monk reciting his mantra. All of my attention is on the Adelaide’s warbler, singing from the top of the tamarind tree; there is none left for extraneous thought. I feel like I belong in the present moment, with no desire to be or do anything else. That feeling remains with me long after I leave the field site.
Whether you do it while in the heart of the Amazon or on your walk to work, deep listening is a form of mindfulness. Mindfulness practice can strengthen attention, empathy, and compassion, increase positive emotions, help to control negative emotions, and reduce emotional exhaustion. Studies also point to psychological benefits from listening to birdsong, specifically: even casual exposure to bird sounds can reduce stress, restore a sense of wellbeing, and increase enjoyment of nature. Study participants indicate that listening to birdsong is an effortless way to interact with other animals, deepening one’s connection with the natural world.
Listening deeply to birdsong – that is, listening mindfully, with open attention – combines the benefits of mindfulness practice and those of listening to bird sounds. Here’s how to get started.
Meditate on birdsong
My favourite way to listen to birdsong does not require any special knowledge or equipment. You simply sit, stand or walk somewhere birds are audible, open your ears completely to the sounds around you, and listen. Your attention will grow stronger the more you do this.
Notice that the sounds come and go on their own, without any effort from you
You can practise deep listening even if the birds are not singing where you are right now. Find a place where you will not get distracted. Set a timer for 15 minutes (you can work up to longer sessions over time). Find a comfortable seat, and sit with your back straight, hands resting comfortably on your lap. Then, play the recording below, through speakers or headphones. You can close your eyes if you like. Take a few deep breaths, be still, and relax.
Feel the breath at the tip of your nose. Feel your feet on the floor, and your back against the chair. Feel your emotional response, whatever it might be, to the bird sounds. Allow yourself to experience the moment.
Notice that the sounds come and go on their own, without any effort from you. You do not need to anticipate what will come next. Just hear each sound the moment it occurs. Remain wide open to sensation.
It is normal for attention to wander, so go easy on yourself when that happens. If a distracting thought arises (Is this working?… I’m not good at this… I need to reply to that email…), just acknowledge it (I am having a thought) and then turn your attention back to what you hear.
You can take a similar approach even if you are not sitting down in formal meditation. For example, while you are walking your dog or taking out the trash, you can consciously open your awareness to bird sounds that you would normally overlook. See what sound patterns or details naturally come to your attention. Notice how pausing and taking a moment to tune into them makes you feel.
Consider time and place
Songbirds sing most intensely during the dawn chorus, so daybreak is the peak time to listen if you want to hear a lot of songs. There is also a less pronounced ‘dusk chorus’ just before sundown. For the night owls among us, you can hear actual owls, night hawks and other nocturnal birds after dark. Even songbirds sometimes sing in the middle of the night!
What do you hear as you pick up your mail or go for a walk around the neighbourhood?
Birds sing the most in the springtime, when they’re setting up territories and attracting mates. Summer is the second-best season for birdsong. Song is less common in the cold months, when migratory songbirds have left for warmer climates and residents no longer have territories to defend or mates to attract. Even in the dead of winter, however, birds such as black-capped chickadees sometimes burst out in song. Winter song remains a scientific mystery: are they practising for the spring, or maybe showing potential mates what they can look forward to?
You can listen to birdsong anywhere there are birds. Simply attend to the bird sounds around you as you go about your day. What do you hear as you pick up your mail, go for a walk around the neighbourhood, or sit on a bench in a nearby park? When you’re ready to dive deeper, try waking up just before dawn and listening to the chorus of birdsong in your own backyard. Set up a comfortable chair, if you can, and drink your coffee on the balcony, porch or another spot outside. Practise the deep-listening exercise I described earlier, replacing the recording with a real-life dawn chorus.
To further expand your listening horizons, you could take in the bird sounds at your local cemetery (a great place for birds in cities!), or at a wetland or stream. Different habitats have different birds, each with their own songs. Travel also opens new sonic frontiers. Next time you’re on vacation, step outside your rental before sunrise and take in the local soundscape. If you’re feeling ambitious, set an alarm and drive to a nature reserve while the world sleeps.
As your interest in listening to birds grows, you can attract more birds to your home by placing feeders, birdhouses or bird baths nearby. Different birds like different trees and plants, especially native species, so if you plant a variety, you’ll be more likely to draw them in. Most importantly, avoid killing birds by keeping your cats inside and treating large windows to avoid window strikes.
Know what you’re listening to
You could stop at this point and continue listening deeply to birds’ songs without labelling them. Some people, however, will want to learn more about the birds they’re hearing – what they’re called, how they look, what they do. The knowledgeable listener can recognise old friends (The robin is up early today!) and notice new visitors (What made that sound?) Learning more about birds is also a step toward the popular hobby of birding.
You might get to know individual birds that frequent your yard
If you want to learn more about the birds you hear, I recommend Cornell’s free Merlin Bird ID app to identify birds by their sounds. Your first purchase should be a field guide to birds in your area. Scientific illustrators like David Allen Sibley include all the distinctive visual features, or ‘field marks’, in their paintings. Field marks are harder to see in photographs, so birders commonly prefer field guides with paintings.
Next, you’ll want a good pair of binoculars. Search ‘binocular shootout’ online and find a pair that suits your budget. Binos with eight times’ magnification and 42 mm objective lenses (‘8x42’) are a good choice for most people. (Pro tip: replace the strap with a bandana for comfort and style, as below.) Use the app, the book and your binoculars to identify the species and sex (some females sing!) of the birds you listen to. You might get to know individual birds that frequent your yard. Most songbirds are territorial in the breeding season, so if you see the same kind of bird singing in the same location, it’s probably the same individual.
Photo supplied by the author
Listen for variation and interaction
Once you know what kind of bird you’re hearing, pay attention to variations in their songs. Most birds sing more than one kind of song. See if you can tell when they switch from one song type to another.
This attention to detail will help you appreciate birdsong as a signal that birds use to communicate with one another. Notice how they take turns ‘countersinging’, like two people having a conversation. Scientists still aren’t certain why they do this – does it sound to you like they’re competing, strengthening their social bonds, or politely taking turns so as not to interrupt? If you listen carefully, you might notice another mysterious phenomenon in which one bird ‘matches’ the song type that his neighbour just sang. You might even catch mated birds combining their voices in a ‘duet’ as a way to stay in contact or cooperatively defend their shared territory.
Loud, melodic songs (like the songs of the yellow warbler, below, or this northern cardinal and this nightingale) get most of the attention, but the ‘calls’ that all birds make are fascinating in their own right. Calls are typically shorter and less whistle-like than songs and, unlike with songs, both sexes call throughout the year. Each type of call has a specific function that you can figure out by careful observation. Context is key. If there is a threatening hawk or cat nearby, you might hear a high-pitched alarm call, followed by silence. If the birds are feeling brave, they will make harsh mobbing calls, to solicit help chasing the predator away.
If you see fledglings following a parent (as in the video below), you may hear the juveniles spam noisy begging calls to convince their parents to feed them next.
Record and revisit bird sounds
Part of the beauty of sound is its transience. Sounds come and go, leaving nothing behind. But if we want to go beyond appreciation in the moment and understand songs better, we must find some way to prolong their lifespan. Birdsong scientists preserve songs by recording them, and you can too. Any digital recorder will do – you could use the voice recording app on your phone – though to get good recordings you’ll want some kind of directional microphone. If you’re willing to buy a new device, I’d recommend starting with a long ‘shotgun’ microphone that you can aim at the bird you want to record. Attach that to a digital recorder, and you’re good to go.
Whatever device you use for recording, it’s helpful to speak into the microphone to record your time, location and other notes for when you revisit it later. You can share your recordings – and listen to other people’s – at the natural sound archive xeno-canto.
It may be tempting to play song recordings to birds to see how they will respond. Song playback will indeed elicit a response from most birds, because they will think there is an intruder in their territory. They will fly around, search for the intruder, and give aggressive signals. The problem is that playback causes birds to stop what they’re doing, even if that’s something important like building a nest or feeding their offspring. It also puts birds in a state of physiological stress. I would be stressed, too, if I thought there was an intruder who might steal my home and partner!
Final notes
The world of birdsong is vast, layered and deeply rewarding for those who take the time to listen. How you choose to appreciate birdsong is ultimately up to you. Listen with intention to open yourself more fully to nature. Learn birds’ names and habits to better appreciate their diversity. Explore the science of birdsong to understand the intricacies of animal communication. There is no one right way. Just open your ears and disappear entirely.
