"It's a good reason to get up every morning!": Perspectives on how feeding and observing birds affects people's...

In light of growing mental health challenges globally, understanding the positive impacts of nature on mental wellbeing is more important than ever. However, the impacts of one of the most common intentional human-wildlife interactions, feeding wild birds, are not well understood. We surveyed 3658 participatory scientists in the USA and Canada who take part in Project FeederWatch to examine associations between wellbeing and bird feeding. Quantitative data showed that most respondents thought feeding and observing birds had a positive impact on their wellbeing over six months of participation, even when other events in their lives did not. Qualitative data revealed that feeding and observing birds positively impacted respondent wellbeing through their emotions, engagement with the activity, and creating a sense of meaning. These findings suggest linkages between bird feeding and positive mental health, while underscoring a need for further research on the mechanisms through which these linkages operate.