I don’t know what it might feel like to be woken up in the morning by the sound of Maa Saraswati’s Veena, but I’m guessing it must come pretty close to being woken up by birdsong. I’ve always been a morning person; probably got it from my father. One of my earliest memories is being woken up by the sound of birds in the morning. The sparrows, the crows, the pigeons, and the laughing doves all played their part impeccably in this morning raga.

Fast-forward 20 years. I’m sitting at my desk, a human embodiment of boredom and procrastination, engaged in the brain-melting task of writing my masters’ thesis. For the hundredth time, my hands open YouTube in a new tab, as if of their own accord, and yet again I find myself searching for “nature sounds”. Hoping against all hope that it will once again succeed in calming me down and help me focus on this monumental task ahead. Yet again, it works.

It wasn’t until I began writing this post that I started to wonder why the sounds of birds and nature leave me with a feeling of supreme bliss. That was when I came across the work of E. Stobbe and J. Sundermann from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. They compared the effects of birdsong vs traffic noise on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Unsurprisingly, listening to birdsongs alleviated the symptoms of all three conditions. Traffic noise, on the other hand, aggravated depression and had a weak correlation with anxiety and paranoia. Granted, I wasn’t depressed while writing my thesis, but I wasn’t particularly thrilled about it either. And birdsong helped my mind relax.

But the story of birdsong and traffic noise doesn’t end there. If anything, it gets a bit grim. So a few days ago, I woke up at around 4 AM (not by choice, because honestly, what kind of psychopath wakes up at 4 AM by choice???). In the deafening silence of the pre-dawn, I could hear one unmistakable sound coming from afar: a lone male koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus). By 4:30 AM, I could hear some other birds as well. This got me curious. I knew that birds get really active at dawn and in the early hours of the morning, but wasn’t this a little too early?

Turns out, a study conducted in Seville, Spain revealed that some birds are actually getting induced to start singing early due to urban noise. Why? Several hypotheses exist. Maybe they’re actively trying to avoid the noisy parts of the day, where it’s much more difficult for them to hear each other over the loud noises. Or maybe some males wake up early to sing and woo the ladies and get an edge over their competitors who would, later in the day, have to sing much more loudly to attract their mates. And it’s not just early wake-up times. Researchers from Xalapa, Mexico found a negative correlation between urban noise and avian species diversity. The birds actively try to temporarily leave areas where there’s too much noise. The more noise there is in the city, the fewer birds you’re going to find.

So, clearly, birds want to divorce us.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. There was one other important finding from the Mexico study: The more vegetation cover there is, the greater is the avian species richness. Other studies confirmed that most birds in cities are concentrated in the greenspace areas and well-vegetated residential areas.

So what can we do? Well, its obvious, isn’t it? Plant more trees. If you’re unable to, lend your support to the people and NGOs that do. At the very least, buy more potted plants for your balcony. Put bird-feeder and a bowl of water alongside the plants. Not only would it make for a more Pinterest-worthy aesthetic, but it would also provide a quiet, cool, green space for the birds who might be too tired of being engaged in a shouting match against the urban noise.

And please, for the love of all that is good and pure, stop honking unnecessarily!

Ask yourself: Do you really want a few males dominating the Koel dating market? Don’t you think a fair competition would bring better options for the ladies?

From pollination to scavenging carcasses, we just can’t appreciate birds enough for their role in sustaining our ecosystems. And even if we consider our own selfish motives, imagine a world where there are no colourful little dinosaurs (yes, birds are dinosaurs) hopping about. Imagine a world where there’s no birdsong.

Think about it, would you?

Now, I’ll take your leave. My binoculars await me for a birdwatching session. I’ll get back to you soon with another wild story.

Until then, be curious, stay kind.

References:

1. Stobbe, E., Sundermann, J., Ascone, L., & Kühn, S. (2022). Birdsongs alleviate anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants. Scientific reports, 12(1), 16414.
2. Carral-Murrieta, C. O., García-Arroyo, M., Marín-Gómez, O. H., Sosa-López, J. R., & MacGregor-Fors, I. (2020). Noisy environments: untangling the role of anthropogenic noise on bird species richness in a Neotropical city. Avian Research, 11, 1-7.
3. Arroyo‐Solís, A., Castillo, J. M., Figueroa, E., López‐Sánchez, J. L., & Slabbekoorn, H. (2013). Experimental evidence for an impact of anthropogenic noise on dawn chorus timing in urban birds. Journal of Avian Biology, 44(3), 288-296.
4. González-García, F., Straub, R., García, J. A. L., & MacGregor-Fors, I. (2014). Birds of a neotropical green city: an up-to-date review of the avifauna of the city of Xalapa with additional unpublished records. Urban Ecosystems, 17, 991-1012.