Birdsong and walks in the forest tied to significant mental health benefits

When Nils Peterson and his research team at North Carolina State University wanted to understand how nature affects our mood, they came up with a simple experiment. They asked volunteers to sit either on a quiet, reclaimed nature trail or in a busy urban area while wearing noise-canceling headphones. Half the participants listened to birdsong, while the others heard traffic sounds. Then everyone reported how stressed they felt and how refreshed they seemed to be afterward.

The results were striking. People sitting in green spaces who heard birdsong reported feeling better in almost every way — more positive emotions, less negativity, lower stress, and a stronger sense of feeling restored. Meanwhile, those in grey, urban areas listening to car sounds reported the opposite effects. When the sounds and locations did not match up — birdsong in a city street, or traffic noise on a forest trail — people's reactions were mixed.

"For participants who were in a green space listening to the birds, there were significant effects," said Peterson, a professor in the NC State College of Natural Resources who led the study. "Positive emotions went up, negative emotions went down, stress went down, and perceptions of feeling restored went up more than any other combination."

The study, published in the journal Environmental Conservation in 2026, suggests something important for city planners and anyone who feels drained by urban life. If a neighbourhood feels too grey and stressful, adding natural elements like trees and plants that attract birds could help. "When you have a really gray space that is going to stress people out and give them negative experiences, if you can change that space so that it has natural sounds, you can ameliorate the downsides of that gray space," Peterson explained.

Other research also supports the soothing power of water sounds and other natural noises, not just birdsong. For Peterson, though, the message is straightforward: a walk among trees with birds overhead might be one of the simplest ways to lift your spirits.