The weather this summer here in Canada has been crazy. A long period of extreme heat has plagued much of the country producing forest fires and causing heat-related deaths while other regions have had lots of rain and cool temperatures. Last weekend proved no different in the crazy weather department. It was unbearably hot and humid which prompted a huge thunderstorm with all the fixin’s including copious amounts of lightening and torrential rain. Weather of this type of rage (I do believe Mother Nature is quite annoyed with us as a species hence the use of the word rage) often scares the life out of me and I began to wonder how animals and birds in particular survive such events.
I remember hearing about this myth regarding turkeys wherein they had to be housed in a covered pen when outside because they would all look up when hit in the head by raindrops. (‘Hey, what’s that? Is the sky falling again?’) Because of the shape of their beaks and nostril placement on their beaks this would lead to drowning on not-so-dry land. I still do not know if this is wholly accurate but if there are any turkey farmers reading this, I would love to know if this is a truth or just a bias against turkeys.
Every year thousands of birds will be injured or lose their lives because of weather and hail can cause broken bones, wings, and bills. What is a bird to do? A recent video showing a flock of Canada geese looking straight up into the incoming hail has prompted many people to state, ‘see, these birds just are not that smart’ and those people would be completely…wrong…at least in this particular instance. The reason that geese assume this position is so that their heads become a smaller target for the hail to hit. With their aerodynamic bills raised to the heavens, the hail slide down the contour of or misses their bills altogether. Although the video makes these geese look crazy, it is actually a smart thing.
Birds are incredibly adapted to their surroundings and can often weather the elements better than most humans. Look at a bird’s feathers. Feathers are the ‘most complex epidermal appendages found in animals’ (K. Parker, Speculations on the origin of feathers, Living Bird) and as such enable the bird to fly and to stay warm even in the harshest environments The air-space between a bird’s feathers is the reason for much of their heat conservation. That is the reason all those expensive down-filled coats are still so popular for polar explorers. The birds also have the ability to fluff their feathers up to make even more of these air pockets and preserve as much heat as possible. They have a built-in thermostat: cold, fluff up the feathers; hot, flatten them out.
Beautiful, fluffy are all well and good but why don’t they lose heat through their bare feet? Birds can spend long hours standing on cold surfaces or immersed in cold water and do not seem to be aware of the cold. I have often shivered at gulls and waterfowl in the winter just looking at them. Firstly, bird feet can withstand low temperatures because their feet are made up of mostly tendons and bones with little muscle and nerve tissue. Secondly, birds use a counter-current heat exchange system. The cold blood from the foot travels through veins that are grouped around arteries sending warm blood from the heart to the feet. The heat from the warm arteries is transferred to the cold veins. This allows the feet to be relatively cold while maintaining a normal core temperature.
Another way to combat the bad weather is to find a good hiding spot. If you are a small bird (or mammal for that matter) you find yourself a spot somewhere on the leeside of a tree or deep inside a hedge. The decrease in the wind speeds in these places can be substantial. The temperature can be degrees warmer closer to the ground and this can be increased even more if the sun is shining. If you find a spot close to the ground and out of the wind, you’ve got it made unless, of course, there is flooding. In that case some burrow on the windless side of a tree is your best bet.
The final way to make it through a storm is to be prepared for the storm. Animals must increase the amount of stored energy for the possibility of inactivity due to inclement weather. How do they do this? Birds and mammals will boost their foraging in the time leading up to a storm to build up their fat stores. It would seem that there are some animals that can detect changes in the atmospheric pressures and up their food gathering in anticipation of a storm. I have always judged the upcoming winters on how fat the squirrels are getting. My theory goes something like this: if an animal that hibernates or goes through times of dormancy are packing on the pounds, it is probably because the winter will be 1) long or 2) harsh or a combination of the two. So, if you see a double-chinned red squirrel carrying a grocery bag full of food, you might want to book a trip south.
In conclusion, I think that the next video you see a wild animal acting in strange way, you might want to consider the reasons why. It might not immediately be apparent but these animals have evolved to survive whatever nature throws at them. If they had not, there wouldn’t be any of them left. All those doomsday preppers out there could learn a thing or two.
–Janice Willson
As a little postscript I have to say that the video of the flock of turkeys circling a dead cat seems like some kind of cult thing and scares the daylights out of me. If anyone knows the reason for this, I would love to know.
https://now.tufts.edu/articles/how-do-birds-survive-storms-and-other-harsh-weather
Photo Source: the author
