How Heat Waves Affect Birds, and How You Can Help

Heat waves are becoming longer, more frequent, and more intense as the climate changes. These extreme weather events threaten communities around the world, and they also pose serious risks for birds with impacts that can ripple through entire ecosystems. There are actions you can take at home and in your community to help birds adapt during periods of extreme heat. Long-term, reducing pollution and maintaining habitats that store carbon will be essential to addressing this dangerous trend.

The impact of heat waves on birds can be especially severe in hot, dry regions where temperatures are already high and regularly push birds to their limits. Unseasonably warm weather in places that aren’t known for high temperatures can also create dangerous conditions for birds. Nesting birds that breed in open habitats, like Caspian Terns and Piping Plovers, are especially vulnerable to extreme heat because their eggs and chicks cannot escape direct sunlight. Birds that nest in artificial nest boxes like Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds may face additional challenges if boxes are exposed to prolonged direct sunlight or become hotter than natural tree cavities. When temperatures climb too high, birds can become dehydrated and experience heat stress, and in extreme cases they’re at risk of dying.

Oceans, seas, and coasts also experience heat waves when surface temperatures become unseasonably warm. These marine heat waves can disrupt food webs, causing declines in fish and other organisms or forcing them to move in search of cooler water. When seabirds can’t find enough food, the consequences can be devastating. A marine heat wave in 2016 contributed to the deaths of an estimated one million Common Murres along the Pacific coast, making it one of the largest die-offs of seabirds ever recorded. Like heat waves on land, marine heatwaves are also becoming more frequent because of climate change.

What You Can Do

The good news is that birds have a few ways to keep cool on warm days, and there are simple actions you can take to make heat waves much easier for birds to weather. Birds are good at finding shady places to escape the direct sun, and many cool themselves off by breathing rapidly, similar to how dogs pant, which helps release excess body heat. They also shed heat through their feet and bills, and they’ll flutter their wings and splash around in water to cool off.

You can make a difference by helping birds beat the heat:

• Offer water: A simple bird bath can make a big difference, providing water for bathing and drinking when natural sources are scarce. Be sure to clean bird baths regularly to help prevent the spread of disease. 
• Provide shade: By planting a diverse garden with native trees, shrubs, and ground cover, you can provide places for birds to rest out of the sun. Make sure that any nest boxes for cavity nesters like chickadees or bluebirds are shaded as well.
• Supply food: Native plants host insects and provide plenty of seeds, berries, and fruit—food sources that can become scarce during periods of extreme heat. For some species, well-maintained bird feeders can also help. Keep in mind that hummingbird feeders should be cleaned daily in hot weather because the nectar spoils quickly. 
• Get involved: Consider joining a local Audubon chapter to encourage actions that support birds during heat waves and throughout the year.

Audubon's Survival by Degrees report shows that increasingly extreme heat waves threaten the survival of many of North America’s bird species as their historic ranges become uninhabitable. Thankfully, there are clear solutions:

• Building more responsibly planned wind and solar energy with a modernized and expanded electrical grid will help cut pollution and slow global temperature rise. 
• Managing forests, wetlands, coasts, and grasslands well will provide key habitat for birds while storing carbon and reducing climate risks like extreme heat.

Remember that you can’t help birds without helping yourself. Stay hydrated, avoid strenuous activities during the hottest part of the day, seek out cool places, and check on your community. Together, we can protect birds on a global scale and in our own neighborhoods. 

An earlier version of this article contained a photo of Common Murres by Trish Gussler/Flickr (CC BY NC ND)