There is a man I visit at a nursing home who loves birds more than anything in the world. He spends most of his days building bird houses. On weekends, when the Activity room is closed and his woodshop is unavailable, he sits in his wheelchair by the window waiting for the Cardinals (his favorite) to go by.
He is also very hard of hearing and most times non compliant in wearing his hearing aids. I got the idea to bring in this book pictured above which would give him good reason to want to hear something. The book features recordings of hundreds of birds around the world.
I wish you could have seen the smile on his face. The stunned expression of awe and heard his laughter. He said many times, "That's amazing!" He was so happy. We listened to all of the birds from Africa. He loved how colorful they are too.
This is the first step in getting him to listen to some music. Maybe I can try to play some bird song calls on my guitar? What do you think?
In any case, it was wonderful to find a way to bring some happiness to someone who has no family nearby and is unable due to disability to go outside to see and hear the birds first hand.
What's your favorite bird? I can't say I have a favorite, but I like the low sounds of the mourning doves.
