Care for some bird with your wine?

Vineyards managed with an eye on ecological diversity may improve the experience of visiting wine tourists. In other words, more birds—and their songs—may improve the enjoyment of wine lovers. In a study published recently in People and Nature, researchers classified the diversity of bird sounds in U.K. vineyards using acoustic recordings. They then surveyed visitors who toured these vineyards, asking them questions about their satisfaction with the wine tour overall and their enjoyment of the sounds. The researchers found that wine lovers enjoyed vineyards with a more diverse birdsong soundscape than those with less birdsong diversity. The researchers also enhanced the birdsongs at some vineyards to see whether that changed visitor enjoyment specifically at those locations, and they found that it did. The finding has implications for the ecological improvement of vineyards—if there are more birds in these areas, vineyards may draw more visitors.

Read the study in People and Nature.