Adapting To The Heat

Song sparrow bathing (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

29 August 2024

It’s been another hot week with muggy high temperatures and more to come. Birds are adapting by bathing, hanging out in the shade, and avoiding activity during the worst part of the day.

Some birds who live where it’s hot and dry have adapted their bodies to help them cool off. Read about their special air conditioner nasal passages in this 2017 article.

p.s. Yesterday morning when it was 84°F and felt like 86°, Ecco took a sun bath to heat his feathers and force out the parasites. Aaaaaaah. And then he adjourned to the shade to preen them away.

Ecco sunbathes in the heat, 28 Aug 2024, 11:07am (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

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