Birds and Human Happiness

Have you ever noticed how you stop and listen almost every time a bird sings? Even if you don’t stop, you still listen as you keep going. In fact, it might seem like you can’t help it. The truth is, you can’t. We’re literally genetically hardwired to pick up on the sound of birds. That and a rising or setting sun are things we can’t help but notice whenever we encounter them. Why might that be? In the case of birds, we can hazard a guess or two. Birds of prey and scavengers let us know that there is likely food in the area. The birds themselves of course would have been a source of food back in the early days of humanity. Not to mention, the presence of a lot of birds means there aren’t a significant amount of predators around, meaning the area is safe. The sound of a bird also lets you know there is probably water nearby. Our ancestors may have also learned to associate the presence of many different kinds of birds with good farmland. A diversity of bird species means there is a diversity of other sor