How Do Birds Stay Cool?

“How do birds stay cool in the summer?” One of our patrons saw a mother bird who had built her nest in a sunny window. The bird had her mouth open as though she was panting, and was shading the nest with her wings.

 As it turns out, those are two common ways birds cool themselves down. They have their own way of panting, and may also open their mouths and flutter the throat muscles to release heat. They’ll also open up their wings and spread out their feathers to let the air circulate around their bodies. The mother bird our patron saw may have been both cooling down her babies and herself.

We found our answers on the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission website and the Audubon Magazine blog. Both sources suggest installing a birdbath if you’d like to help your feathered friends beat the heat. Not only does it provide a source of fresh drinking water, but it gives the birds a place to splash around. The Newton Falls Public Library has books on birdbaths available, including “Projects for the Birder’s Garden” and Edward A. Baldwin’s “Birdfeeders, Shelters, and Baths.”

We didn't go into all the ways that birds can cool themselves down – turkey vultures have a particularly unsavory way of going about it. If you’re curious, you can find out how in Joey Slinger’s “Down and Dirty Birding.”

Is the Sun Closer to the Earth in the Summer or the Winter?

“We have a bet riding on this question. Is the sun closer to the earth in the summer or the winter?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff found this to be an interesting question, considering how much snow we have been getting this December.
Our staff member Googled “sun closer to earth in winter or summer” and found several websites which seemed to supply the information we needed. The Library of Congress’ site has a section called Everyday Mysteries [www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/seasons.html] where the question “Why is it hot in summer and cold in winter?” is answered. The sun is closest to the earth in January and furthest in July. It explains though the sun is closer in the winter than the summer, because of the tilt on its axis, the sun’s rays hit the earth at a shallower angle with more atmosphere to go through.This causes less energy to hit any given spot on the surface and factoring in the shorter days and longer nights the earth does not stay as warm. Our staff informed the patron, who was happy that he was going to be a little richer.

Researching further for this article, we went to the website www.space.com/spacewatch/301206_happy_perihelion.html. There we discovered that while the information given in the Library of Congress article was correct, in relationship to the seasons, it is only true for us living in the Northern Hemisphere. As explained, the seasons are determined by the tilt of the earth’s axis, not the distance from the sun. Hopefully this will not void our patron’s winning since in December the earth is always closer to the sun than in July, no matter what the season or hemisphere.