Wren – Photo: L. Weikel

Bird Bonus

You all know how much I love my feathered friends. I might be disinclined to slap on my boots and bundle up to shovel snow – but I’ll do it to fill the feeders for my buds. And now, what do I discover to my delight? As I increase the variety of visitors to my neck of the woods (or plot of feeders, as it were), I just might receive the equivalent of a bird bonus in my emotional bank account!

Who knew?

And here I thought it was all because I’m just a softy for Mother Earth and all her creatures. But no. It turns out that I’ve learned from this article that the results of a study determined that if we’re exposed to 14 different species of birds on a regular basis, we experience the satisfaction and happiness that an extra $150/month in our bank account would bring us.

What say you, Chickadee? – Photo: L. Weikel

A Puzzle

I have to admit, the precision with which the amount of happiness assessed – in dollar figures, no less, when it appeared to be a British study – poses a bit of a puzzle to me. And I have to say, the addition of $150/month in my bank account might bring me a cascade of happiness raining down upon my head, but I doubt it would have as big an impact upon the hedge fund manager down the road.

Just a thought.

But would that mean that the hedge fund manager would need 140 different species to show up at her feeder to feel the same feels engendered by visits from our avian brothers and sisters that I might get from 14? Does it mean that hedge fund managers are hopelessly destined to never feeling as much joy from birding as I might be?

One might think being a HEDGE fund manager might attract enough nesting birds to…

Oh man, you can tell I’m digging deep for tonight’s post.

But the link is real! And quite honestly, I do believe the more birds that visit our lives each and every day, the happier we are. And I honestly and sincerely can’t put a dollar figure on the joy my birds bring me.

I just love them.

House Sparrows Hangin’ – Photo: L. Weikel

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