Birding Toward Hope

We live in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world and staying centered can feel more challenging by the day. It is easy to become weighed down by uncertainty, anxiety, or even despair – but we still have to find ways to move forward. We need sources of steadiness, connection, and hope. And if you ask me where we can find them, I will point you towards birds. 

As the Earth tilts toward longer days in the Northern Hemisphere, the natural world begins to wake up from its winter dormancy. Temperatures rise, snow melts, trees begin to bud, flowers bloom, prairie dogs come out of their burrows, neotropical migrants return to their breeding grounds, and the sun’s warmth begins to beckon us to the outdoors once again. By May, many of us begin to collectively sense a wave of relief as daylight lengthens and our vitamin D levels rise.  

A growing body of research links nature exposure with reduced stress, improved mood, and lower symptoms of depression and anxiety. A person’s proximity to green space alone has significant impacts on their mental health and overall well-being. Recognizing these benefits, many Americans are trying to incorporate more outdoor time into their daily lives. However, as beneficial as being outside is, we can compound those benefits by being purposeful with our outdoor time. In one 2024 study of college students, birding was associated with greater gains in subjective well-being and larger reductions in psychological distress than a general nature walks.  Birding can provide extra mental health benefits because it turns passive time outside into focused, rewarding, and mindful engagement with nature.  

Birding requires us to be present in the moment. It also allows us to shift our focus from our own worries and ruminations to another subject, breaking anxious thought patterns. Birds hold our attention without overwhelming it. For the socially awkward like myself, birding can provide deep enrichment without the anxiety-inducing obligation of socializing. In the same breath, birding provides an avenue for making friends in a wholesome environment. Birding also helps to build a stronger connection to place. If you’re visiting your favorite park or birding hotspot periodically throughout the year, you will begin to notice seasonal changes that can foster a sense of meaning and belonging. Birding is more than a hobby - it’s a simple way to slow down, spend time outside, notice the living world, and build connection.  

 On top of all that, I believe birds are living symbols of hope. Each year they return to us from the other side of the world in hope of a prosperous summer. Each day they wake up and pronounce their vitality to the world in the form of song. Even when facing immense challenges and hardships, they persevere. People across cultures and across time have recognized birds as symbols of hope. In 1861, Emily Dickinson famously imagined hope as  “the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all”. More than six decades later, the Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore was inspired to write “Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark” in his collection: Fireflies. Birds have been inspiring us for millennia to have faith and persevere.  

For me, birding has changed my life. Not only has birding made me more observant and patient, but it’s given me a sense of belonging to the Earth. Birds remind me that I am part of nature – not separate from it. I see myself in birds as we’re driven by some of the same basic needs: a need to feed myself and my family, an urge to travel, a sense of purpose, and connection. When I connect to the natural world, it seems easier to incorporate the lessons I’ve learned from birds into my own life. Lessons of resilience, hope, and perseverance. These lessons and practices inspired by birds have helped me to feel less anxiety and more hopeful that we can get ourselves out of any mess that we’ve created. Birding is not a replacement for mental health care, but it is a low-cost, accessible way to connect us to our humanity and turn everyday nature exposure into an active wellness practice. 

 As we acknowledge the struggles of mental illness this May, let us channel the hope and resilience of birds that have been inspiring us to see the light for as long as we can remember. If this message resonates with you and you’re ready to start your birding journey, you may consider starting here. However, the beauty of birding is that there’s not just one right way to do it. You may enjoy sitting in the shade of an old oak tree in your local, city park while trying to figure out what’s motivating the American Robins to run around the grass, chirping. Or you could be an intrepid weekend birder that likes to get off the beaten path and find as many bird species as you possibly can. Perhaps, you’ll become endlessly fascinated with parsing out plumage variations in wintering shorebirds at a nearby wildlife refuge. It’s YOUR adventure – do what you like. 

 I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the foothills of the Sandia mountains and along the banks of the Rio Grande. We’re blessed with lots of birding opportunities all around us! During this time of year, as migrant birds are heading northward on their annual journeys, I like to find the birds that are only stopping over. Birds like White-faced Ibis, Long-billed Curlews, Wilson’s Warblers, Bank Swallows, and any rarity that has seemingly gone off course. I get a thrill out of finding birds that I wasn’t expecting to see that day and posting my lists on eBird. 

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation about birds with my friends, Rin Tara and John Fleck, hosts of the podcast: Water Matters! Rin and John work to provide our community in the Southwest with up-to-date information about ongoing water matters (hence the name). They asked me to join them for an episode to talk about birds and their relationship with water along the Middle Rio Grande in New Mexico. Of course I couldn’t resist! We talked about some of my favorite places to bird in Albuquerque and along the Middle Rio Grande. If you’re interested in listening to our conversation, you can find it here: