An American professor is studying the positive impact of bird feeding on humans after observing a family member’s strong attachment to the hobby.
Ashley Dayer is an associate professor in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation department at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Dayer, who said her mother was deeply committed to feeding birds, is the lead author of a paper recently published in People and Nature. Their goal: to discover the positive impact of bird feeding on humans.
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Researchers believe they will find that feeding birds is beneficial for humans and should play a role in public guidelines and policies, according to Virginia Tech News.
Dayer told the university publication that many wildlife agencies do not consider the science behind “what happens to birds” or “the science behind what happens to humans.”
Researchers are looking at the positive impacts humans can have if they take the time and attention to feed wild birds. (iStock)
The associate professor said his interest in investigating the benefits of feeding birds began in 2021 when he saw that state agencies were advising the public to stop feeding birds due to disease outbreaks.
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But after doing his own research, Dayer said he and other researchers found that 23 states had made this recommendation without any evidence that it would actually stop the spread of the disease.
Along with Dayer, Dana Hawley, a professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech, told Virginia Tech News that studying the impact of bird feeding on humans was not something she had really thought about before this revelation.
One researcher said he knew of the commitment humans have in feeding birds, because he saw his mother’s love for the hobby. (iStock)
“In all my years of studying how bird feeding impacts wild birds, I hadn’t really thought about how it could also impact the people who spend their time and money feeding and watching birds,” he said.
This new project is an extension of the work Dayer and Hawley have been doing for the past six years.
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The research group is now using FeederWatch, a network of bird enthusiasts – which, for the past 37 years, has asked participants to observe and report what they see at their feeders from November to April.
For the new study, the researchers started by asking participants to monitor their well-being using FeederWatch. They received about 8,000 applications in the first week of the season, according to Virginia Tech News.
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However, the passionate response from the bird-feeding community is something Dayer is familiar with, as she notes that her mother would go so far as to cut her vacation short to return home to feed the birds.
Researchers say about 8,000 bird feeders participated in the first week of their new study. (iStock)
“I live with someone who really likes to feed the birds and I see how important that is,” he told Virginia Tech News.
Dayer told Fox News Digital that study participants are now sharing their emotional responses to the birds.
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“They also share information about their emotional responses to birds they see, mammals they see, observations of disease or observations of dead birds,” he said.
Researchers have looked at the emotional impact birds have on humans. (iStock)
Dayer said researchers had noticed that emotional distress occurred when participants came into contact with dead birds – whether the deaths were caused by predators, weather or disease.
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Hawley told the university publication that he hopes his research “will help us develop bird feeding guidelines that minimize risks to wild birds and maximize benefits for the people who feed them.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Dayer for further comment.
For more lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
Brittany Kasko is a lifestyle production assistant at Fox News Digital.
2023-12-12 00:08:55
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