Animals have talent: “Being in contact with birds lowers our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone”

An ecological engineer, ornithologist, and science writer, Philippe J. Dubois, along with naturalist and ornithologist Elise Rousseau, has written "Ornithérapie," a book that questions our relationship with life and invites us to listen to and observe birds. Why? To feel better and to protect them.

You and Elise Rousseau are co-authoring a book entitled "Ornitherapy - What if birds helped us feel better?" To what extent can nature, and birds in particular, truly soothe us?

When we walk in nature, it does us good. This is a premise that no one can question. Another incontestable premise: we are evolving in a world that has become anxiety-inducing. Our attention is constantly focused on what is not going well, on political crises, wars, health crises, etc. We therefore have this eco-anxiety, this fear of the future for ourselves, our children, our environment, our planet. This is the context. For the past few years, the Anglo-Saxons have been conducting research combining science, ecology, medicine, and sociology. And they have observed—which is the starting point of our book—that being in contact with nature, and more specifically birds, lowers our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. A twenty-minute outing significantly reduces it. The first minutes of contact with the birds will sweep away some of our irrational thoughts, with a lasting effect lasting for the following eight hours. So, in this world of immediacy, reconnecting with nature means reconnecting with the long term, with a form of simplicity and a form of fraternity with the environment.

Why focus on birds? Doesn't nature as a whole have these calming virtues?

Yes, of course, but the advantage of birds is that, on the one hand, the number of species is limited, unlike insects and plants, which makes for an easier approach. On the other hand, most birds are diurnal and therefore visible, not to mention that they are often colorful. Finally, they sing and therefore know how to make themselves heard.

A quick aside on the songs: what do they tell us?

It's important to differentiate between bird songs and bird calls. Songs are most often emitted by males to proclaim their territory or to attract a female. Calls are part of everyday language. They are the contact calls of migratory birds to avoid getting lost. The cries of starlings arriving at their roosts and communicating nearby feeding grounds to their fellows. Or even distress calls. But for us, the human species, bird choruses remain marvels that provoke pleasure. When the second pleasure comes down to determining those behind the chorus who raise the voice: the wren, the song thrush, or the nightingale.

Your book is an invitation to enter into the intimacy of species. How does this approach represent "good" for us humans?

Because entering into this proximity means activating our senses, which we tend to leave unattended. It's about moving from hearing to listening, from seeing to looking. This conscious activation will put us in tune with the environment. In an active and no longer passive mode. What we seek by listening and looking is to recognize this bird with yellow and blue plumage like the blue tit. A recognition that creates intimacy with the individual, bringing us well-being and satisfaction. We will be interested in its behavior and want to protect it. We always say that we only protect well what we know well. Nature as it appears to us in the subway on a photograph of beautiful landscapes is a theater without actors. To become aware of the presence of the actors, we must learn to know them.

And the primary objective of your book is indeed to raise awareness for the protection of a threatened world...

Yes, according to the 2022 BirdLife International report, half of the world's 11,000 bird species are in decline, including nearly 1,500 threatened with extinction. In Europe, there has been a 25% decline in bird numbers over the past 40 years, rising to 60% in agricultural areas.

Let's remember that we share 80% of our genetic heritage with birds. This is why they are called "sentinels" of our own conservation. And nature has never been in such bad shape..."

What are the threats?

The number one predator of birds in Europe is the cat. In reality, it's an accumulation of unfavorable factors that are leading to the decline of life: the destruction of natural habitats, global warming and its acceleration that prevents birds from adapting, overfishing, hunting, pesticides that will wipe out harmful insects and deprive birds of food. Remember that we share 80% of our genetic heritage with birds. This is why they are called "sentinels" of our own conservation. And nature has never been in such bad shape...

Is there no more hope?

I don't believe in the disappearance of the human species, but rather in a collapse that will be dramatic for nature—resilient to a certain extent—with repercussions for the human species. Jérôme Deshusses, a Swiss author, reminds us that "nature forgives nothing, forgets nothing... It can withstand a thousand blows and suddenly return not an eye for an eye, but an apocalypse for a flick." We must therefore rebuild bonds of fraternity, humility, and respect with nature. Building bonds means beginning, in a small way, to realize that we have something valuable, essential, but very fragile and threatened. If we can transmit this awareness to others, we can hope to make a little difference.

“Ornitherapy,” by Philippe J. Dubois and Elise Rousseau, published by Albin Michel, €17.90, ebook €11.99.