It’s Hot! Extreme Heat and Our Birds

Summary: It is hot, hot, hot! How do birds deal with the increasing heat we’re currently experiencing? Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they talk about how birds keep cool in the summer heat.

 

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

 

Show Notes:

www.audubon.org/news/how-to-help-birds-beat-the-heat/

www.audubon.org/news/the-many-ways-birds-beat-the-heat/

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201112144038.htm

www.birdlife.org/news/2023/08/02/what-ongoing-heatwaves-could-mean-for -bird-populations/

www.audubon.org/news/when-it-gets-too-hot-phoenixs-lovebirds-turn-air-conditioning/

 

Transcript

Cheryl: Intro:

         Extreme temperatures add stress to an already fragile existence yours, mine and our birds.

Heat extreme is threatening bird populations, with the hottest July on record here in Phoenix behind us let’s look at how birds handle the heat, wildfires, and how we may help.

Kiersten: The adaptions birds have to keep cool.

         Birds in general are well insulated and just like us they heat up when they exercise.  Imagine wearing a down jacket all the time, even when you exercise.  Yep! That’s a bird.  Wild birds are always, in a way, exercising, so birds have to be careful not to overheat.

• Anatomical adaptions: Shorebirds wade in cool water, this helps their bodies to release heat. Waterfowl also use water to regulate their body temperature. 
• Dark Plumage can actually be cooler than white or light-colored feathers. It may seem counterintuitive that so many birds in hot climates are black or darker colored, but studies have found that there are advantages to having these drabber colors.
• 1)Darker feathers do get hotter than white feathers, but because these feathers provide such good insulation very little heat reaches the bird’s skin.
• 2) Dark feathers absorb light and heat at the surface, where it can easily radiate back to the air.  Dark feathers are more resistant to wear and help block UV radiation, dark feathers also allow birds to be more inconspicuous when resting in the shade, but visible to their flock mates.
• Birds don’t sweat, they generally cool off by panting. Gular flutter
• Desert birds have evolved to avoid exertion during the hottest part of the day.
• Many desert bird species have long-term pair bonds and maintain year-round territories, reducing the need for energetic displays. Fighting is relatively rare.  And there are many mechanisms to shelter eggs and chicks from the heat and to provide water.

 

Cheryl: Heat and baby birds

         Extreme heat in the southwest can be devastating to young birds.  Baby birds will jump from nests to find relief from the heat.  Sometimes they find something soft to break their fall, other times not.  A nestling’s tiny body is still in development, and the tiny bird struggles to regulate its temperature-which is one reason why parents sit on their young, to help buffer the cold and the heat. Not only are baby birds less efficient at relieving heat stress, but they also have limited mobility, and this can lead to nestlings in open nests like hawks, some owls, even our curve-billed thrasher babies exposed to direct sunlight.  This sometimes, leads to these birds leaving the nest too early because they are too hot.

         Birds don’t sweat, they pant instead.  Unfortunately, panting is an active process that requires a lot of muscle movement.  So, it is a double-edged sword; to offload heat by panting, birds basically have no choice but to produce heat.  Scientists are concerned that chronic heat stress is going to lead to nest failures.  This could risk the future of 389 North American bird species.

 

Kiersten:  Wildfires

          Wildfires are becoming hotter, more numerous, and fiercer with the warming of the climate, we can see that with the most recent wildfire on Maui.  A wildfire refers to an unintentional, uncontrolled fire. 

How do wildfires impact wildlife and their habitats?  After a wildfire in Flagstaff, two porcupines were seen walking slow and funny, more so than they usually do.  They were picked up by wildlife rescuers.  It was discovered that these animals had burns on their feet from walking on the hot coals.  So, what is happening in the aftermath of fires -just animals having a hard time and being push