Having birds on the brain may make you sharper. And that is only one of the many gifts of birdwatching

To people for whom avian life registers as little more than a fluttering at the edge of their vision, one little green bird is just like another little green bird is just like a leaf dancing in the breeze. In the hurly-burly of 21st century life, birdwatching (birding) is the kind of hobby that is easy to dismiss as better suited to a more leisurely age. When there are Excel sheets to fill and presentations to make, who has time to tell the stubby-tailed Indian whiteye from the common tailorbird with its red cap and upright tail?

Yet, having birds on the brain may well make it sharper. A recent study published in the neuroscience journal JNeurosci shows that the fussy — some might say obsessive — attention to detail that birders lavish on these little creatures can be an armour against the ravages of age. Thanks to neuroplasticity (the brain’s lifelong ability to form new neural connections and strengthen existing ones), there are proven cognitive benefits to learning any new skill. Birding is particularly helpful given the range of discrete skills involved, from pattern recognition and spatial awareness to visual search and sustained concentration.

Ask birders, however, and they might scoff at this pragmatic reading of a pastime that offers something rarer and harder to measure. Because when birdsong stops being mere background noise, it forces attention to the present. Allow the mind to be distracted by regrets of the past and concerns about the future and a quick-moving or well-camouflaged bird may well be lost to sight. The sense of liberation that comes from allowing oneself to simply be with these hollow-boned wonders as they go about their brief and beautiful lives is the true gift of birdwatching.