A forest raven I call Gloria, who visits my garden each day, was feeling the heat. Her beak open, she was panting under the scorching sun on one of the hottest days of summer.
Birds do not have sweat glands, so the primary way of dissipating excessive heat is by panting, just like a dog. If you see a bird during the hottest part of the day, it will likely have its mouth open. It’s ridding heat from its body through the open bill.
On hot days when birds are seen panting it is worth considering that water, just like food, is an essential requirement and it certainly helps them if we provide drinking and bathing water in the shape of a birdbath.
Hot and dry weather always takes its toll, but if the heat only lasts for a day or two, birds can usually survive until the weather cools down again. However, during a prolonged heatwave, when it’s hot for day after day, they inevitably begin to feel the effects.
Like humans, birds need to drink every day and shelter from the heat during the hot weather. However, unlike us, they can’t turn on a tap for some cold water, or switch on an air conditioner to cool down.
I’ve never bothered with placing a birdbath in the garden because I have a rivulet marking one of the boundaries of my property and this usually meets birds’ needs. With increasingly hot summers, though, the stream is sometimes reduced to a trickle with stagnant pools so I have decided to provide a constant fresh water supply.
Birdlife Australia says the best thing bird-lovers can do is to place a dish of water in the shade so that the birds can have a drink or cool off in it. It must not be too deep – birds might drown – and if it does contain a sizeable volume of water to give larger birds a chance to bathe, it might help smaller birds to place large stones in the birdbath so they can hop in and out.
If there is already a birdbath in place, gardeners should ensure it is topped up regularly and placed in the shade so the water doesn’t heat up too much.
It’s also important to keep the water out of the reach of the neighbourhood cats, as heat-stressed birds are easy prey for them. A threat is also posed by the more aggressive introduced birds, which will bully and chase smaller birds away, and from avian predators like the collared sparrowhawk and the brown goshawk. Placing a birdbath close to leafy and tangled vegetation can provide bathing birds shelter and a quick escape.
It’s worth noting that if the weather’s too hot for us, it’s too hot for the birds, too. Simple action can save a bird’s life.