Birding helps some ‘feel a part of something bigger’
Fields Falcone (center), the Overton Park Conservancy's resident ornithologist, takes people on a Saturday morning "songbird stroll" through the Old Forest at Overton Park. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Sarah Rose Cullen keeps her bird feeders well stocked for the array of species that visit her Millington backyard.
The eastern bluebird, a year-round resident, and the migratory ruby-throated hummingbird are among her favorite guests.
Cullen, 42, is both a birdwatcher, or a casual observer of birds, and an amateur birder, someone who actively pursues birds in the wild and travels to see them in specific habitats. She said she struggles with depression and anxiety but observing birds boosts her mental health and sense of well-being.
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Aisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki covers health care, banking and finance, technology and professions. After launching her career in news two decades ago, she worked in public relations for almost a decade before returning to journalism in 2022.
As a health care reporter, she’s collaborated with The Carter Center, earned awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists and won a 2024 Tennessee Press Association first-place prize for her series on discrepancies in Shelby County life expectancy by ZIP code.
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