Birds in hot weather

Hot weather is tough on birds as well as people. They need to avoid overheating, but have fewer ways to deal with heat issues than we do. One way birds cope is to gape and pant; they hold their bills open to facilitate more rapid exchange of air. The female Lark Bunting in the first photo is doing that. Birds also hold their wings away from their body to expose skin to more air. The meadowlark below is in that posture. Blood circulating close to the skin can then more easily give up heat. Sometimes you find birds that look as though they're holding a skirt up above their knees. Again, they're exposing skin to air; bird legs are little more than bone and blood vessel beneath that skin, so heat transfer is enhanced with feathers are lifted. Water is important. On this trip to western South Dakota we've seen birds catching drips of water at leaky pipe valves serving cattle-watering tanks. You can help at home by making water available in your yard. If you have a bird bath keep it filled with clean water. Bird bath water fouls easily. Any shallow container will work, a clay saucer meant for large flower pots, for example. Or, if you're watering your lawn or garden, place plastic sheet where it will catch some of those sprinkles. Birds will both drink and bathe (another cooling effort) in the small puddles that gather atop the plastic. A large plastic trash or leaf bag will work just fine. Cut it open to provide more surface.