New research suggests unexpected silver lining for nature during COVID-19 pandemic: 'Gave respite'

While over 100 countries worldwide went under lockdown in 2020, recent studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may not have been all doom and gloom. In fact, what researchers are calling the "anthropause" seems to have led to a surge in bird populations and in birdwatching — one of the many pastimes that caught on during the pandemic.

In Indore, India, the lockdown measures implemented in response to the pandemic reversed a decline in sparrow populations, according to a study by the Indian Institute of Management, as relayed by The Free Press Journal. Under quarantine, many civilians took up birdwatching from the comfort of their backyards.

"The increase in the daily number of bird counts could be mainly because more people might have started birdwatching during the lockdown as a new hobby or interest," researchers wrote. "Birdwatching might have helped them ease the hardships of COVID and the lockdown."

While the disruption of human connections made social distancing quite the emotional challenge, it's possible that the restoration of birds is a key to getting your mental health back on track. In addition to their crucial roles as pollinators in their respective ecosystems, the diverse presence of birds likely contributes to reduced stress levels in human beings.

India isn't the only site of booming bird populations. A UCLA study conducted across major cities in California reported similar results in dark-eyed juncos, theorizing that the notable absence of human activity around 2020 may have boosted wildlife tolerance toward urban life.

"Urbanization is a leading cause of habitat loss and biodiversity loss," the UCLA study reported, proposing that wildlife adapting to urban life during the pandemic may mitigate these harmful effects in the future.

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With the extinction rate of bird species rising in response to human impact, there's hope that's the case. But as these COVID-era resurgences suggest, avian declines are not irreversible, especially with local and national initiatives to protect them.

The ongoing research into the ecological effects of the anthropause aims to "create insights which will help us better conserve biodiversity in a rapidly changing, human-dominated world," the study concluded.

"Future research can certainly explore how these habits and trends have been sustained, but what is certain is that the pandemic gave respite to birds and bird watchers alike," Sudeep Bapat, one of the co-authors of the study, added, according to the Journal.

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