No, birds do not flock to our bird feeders to make us happy, but they do make us happy, and very probably (mentally) healthy. Audubon magazine reports on two recent studies suggesting that living in an area with lots of birds makes us happy (the more birds the happier) and that listening to birdsong can bring on a feeling of joy.
One study, conducted by researchers at the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research, linked the diversity of local bird species to increased life-satisfaction for more than 26,000 people in 26 European countries. In fact, on a happiness scale, birds appear to have the same exchange rate as money: the study found that seeing 10 percent more bird species produces that same satisfaction as a 10 percent raise.
The other study, from researchers at Cal Poly, hid speakers that played recorded songs, off and on, from birds on two sections of trails in the Open Space and Mountain Parks in Boulder, Colorado. On the first section of trail, hikers who heard more birdsong reported that they felt better, but didn’t comment that they thought more birds lived along that part of the trail. On the other trail section, hikers who heard more birdsong said that they thought more birds lived along that section of trail, a conviction that, the researchers believe, increased their feeling of joy. Read more in Audubon magazine.