California desert city proposes broadcasting fake bird sounds to cheer up residents

Saturday, February 05, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: bird sounds, California, health news

(NaturalNews) In an effort to raise the morale of his city's residents, mayor R. Rex Parris of Lancaster, Calif., has proposed broadcasting recorded bird sounds around town. He told listeners in his recent "State of the City" speech that scientific studies have shown that bird sounds improve happiness, and that piping them through speakers will ultimately improve residents' health.

Perhaps one of the studies Parris was referring to is the 2010 study out of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., where cancer patients exposed to nature sounds experienced reduced pain compared to patients in normal hospital conditions (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11570073).

Another study he might be referring to out of Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, England, found that children exposed to recordings of bird sounds were calmer and more compliant when receiving medical treatment than children not exposed to the sounds (https://www.naturalnews.com/030612_bird_songs...).

"We have seen tangible benefits for patients in bringing the natural world into hospitals," explained Laura Sillers, Artistic Program Director at the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, concerning the Alder Hey study. "We also installed [bird sounds] in the corridors and there have been numerous requests for the Bird Song chorus to be reproduced on CD, which patients then play at home. This research will be groundbreaking in demonstrating the role art can play in delivering health benefits."

In practically every experiment and study ever conducted on humans with regards to ambient bird sounds, the reactions are nearly always positive. People simply love the sounds birds make and generally have better feelings of happiness and contentment when in their presence.

Parris did not explain to his audience how much the proposed bird sound installations will cost the city, but he expressed confidence that they will provide significant enough benefit to warrant their existence.

Sources for this story include:

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/01/27/la...