Biomimetics (also known as biomimicry or bionics) is the application of methods and systems found in nature to modern technology and human resource development. Although nature offers the best solutions for many of our complicated or unsolved problems, we rarely seek solutions from it. In this article, I have identified certain valuable facts about migratory bird behavior that could provide some basic principles for solving our stress management problems.
Nowadays, stress has become an integral part of our daily lives and therefore each of us has to deal with it in one way or another. Stress is created by various factors known as stressors. They can be environmental, physiological, social, or cognitive. Our body reacts physiologically to these stressors by secreting a hormone called corticosterone that leads to a “fight or fear” response. Although this type of response is interpreted as an adaptive value, the persistent or frequent occurrence of stress leads to chronic undesirable effects in due course on the physiological and behavioral responses of the human body.
Knowing the importance of stress in managing health, many stress management techniques have been developed and suggested to combat stress. However, there is no comprehensive methodology for global stress management that can be applied to any type of stress. Here comes the solution to this problem of nature.
A critical study of the migratory behaviors of some long-migrating birds provides some basic principles involved in successful stress management.
The most stressful part of migratory bird life is their long migratory journey. Some of the migratory birds like geese, sparrows, thrushes, warblers, etc., are known for their seasonal migration traveling hundreds of miles. They have been migrating year after year and generation after generation. How are they able to successfully manage this stressful event and act without interruption knowing full well that it will involve severe stress? The answer is that nature taught them how to successfully handle this stressful event over the course of thousands of years of their evolution.
The following are the basic principles identified in the management of stress by migratory birds: 1. Principle of avoidance, 2. Principle of adaptation, and 3. Principle of acceptance.
Avoidance Principle: The basic reason that birds perform seasonal migration is to avoid the severe cold stress that they would have to face during a particular season, although migration itself has stress that generates exercise. Unless these birds are moved away from severe cold during that season, their chances of surviving in severe temperature stress would be remote. Therefore, nature taught them that the avoidance principle would be the best option in such a situation. Another stress that migratory birds are likely to face is the threat of predators on their migration route. To avoid the threat of their predators on their route, the birds prefer to take a tortuous route knowing full well that such a decision implies an additional flight distance. Here also the principle of avoidance in the face of bird stress is followed. In both cases, the avoidance principle is considered the most valuable stress management technique for those situations.
Acceptance principle: In the previous case of the avoidance principle, the birds were able to distinguish stresses that are tolerable (manageable), stresses that are intolerable (unmanageable) and come from a compromise accepting tolerable stress to avoid intolerable stress. Here comes the principle of acceptance. Accordingly, you have to accept a certain level of stress and it is not advisable to wait for a stress-free situation.
Adaptation principle: Once birds accept some types of stress, they must prepare to face and tolerate the consequences of the stresses they have accepted. Even if accepted stress may be less severe for the time being, it must be managed and eliminated, as it is likely to become chronic in due course if allowed to linger. Here, nature taught them to develop adaptations.
In anticipation of stress due to the depletion of energy resources during their continuous flight, migratory birds store a sufficient amount of fat deposits in their body as an energy reserve before beginning their migration. In addition, the adrenocortex of the brain that responds to stress and initiates physiological changes in normal birds is suppressed in migrants, so they do not feel the stress of flight. During their long migratory journey, migrants change from their normal eating habits to special eating habits through the selective consumption of berries rich in antioxidants. These fruits offer protection against oxidative stress that occurs during long flights. These are some of the adaptations given by nature as stress management techniques for migratory birds.
Therefore, the principle of adaptation in stress management explains how one can prepare to combat stress problems through positive changes in behavior and physiology.
The three principles mentioned above are lessons derived from nature and are the foundations of all stress management techniques. They should be taken into account when finding solutions to stress management problems.