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Do you like walking in nature? How do you feel when you hear birdsong? Happy or nervous? Recently, a study showed that hearing different sounds of bird singing may help increase our happiness.
Researchers at California Polytechnic State University(简称 Cal Poly) did a study. They studied the effects of birdsong on people walking through a park in the U.S. state of Colorado. Danielle Ferraro led the Cal Poly study.
Feraro said there could be an evolutionary reason why we like birdsong so much. “The idea is that when we hear birdsong, it could mean that we are in a safe environment,” she said. There could be many other reasons, too. Ferraro said that in some areas birdsong could also mean the arrival of spring and nice weather. “Bird diversity could also mean a healthy environment,” she added.
Ferraro and her team played recorded songs from a group of different kinds of birds. They did this in a park in Boulder, Colorado. Over several weeks, the researchers played recorded birdsong at certain times of the day and other times they did not. Then they talked with hikers after they passed by. People who heard the recorded birdsongs reported a greater sense of happiness than those who heard simply the natural birds. The researchers said that both the bird sounds and bird diversity could increase feelings of happiness.
The research team did the study during the summer. Ferraro explained why this was important. “The spring is the most birds’ breeding season. We didn’t want to disturb the birds too much.”