Although adults know better than to attribute human feelings to animals, it's hard not to believe that birds are playing when they splash about in a puddle after a summer rain.
They look happy. And they might be, but they're also bathing.
Birds do bathe themselves, and not just in water. Like humans, they also bathe in the sun, and unlike humans, they occasionally bathe in dust.
Most commonly seen songbirds can be observed splashing in puddles, at the shallow edges of lakes and streams or in the birdbaths that people supply in their lawns and gardens.
To bathe, a bird typically will fly to the water's edge, wade in until its lower feathers are touching the surface, dip its head underwater as if to drink and then flap its wings and tail vigorously, splashing water over its entire body.
Since the mass of a bird's body is much lighter than water, it is only with great effort that a songbird can completely submerge itself.
In the wild, wet birds are in danger from predators (in the water and from the air) so the bathing process is done quickly, usually in less than 15 seconds. After bathing, it is common to see a bird fly away from the water's edge to perch on a protected tree branch, where it can drip-dry and preen in relative safety. (Preening is an activity in which a bird uses its beak or feet to clean or align the contour of its feathers and frequently occurs after each bath in water, sunshine or dust.)
This drying and preening period lasts much longer than the bath.
Why do they bathe?
Birds bathe, in part, to control their temperature. On hot days, evaporating water on their wings cools the body.
But bathing is not just for cooling: Birds are occasionally seen bathing in melting ice water and snow on cold winter days. This is because water or snow on the feathers works as a lubricant to make preening easier. After the feathers are cleaned and smoothed by preening, flight is more efficient and the insulation value of downy feathers is increased to warm the bird.
It has also been suggested that birds bathe to protect themselves from disease, lice and other parasites.
Who can get into a bird's brain to know for sure why birds bathe? No one perhaps, but the late Arthur A. Allen, professor of ornithology at Cornell University, made an informed guess: He "could find no biological reason [for birds to bathe] except as it seems to bring a pleasurable sensation to them."
Small birds bathe in less traditional ways. Swallows bathe on the wing by dipping into the lake as they fly to splash water on themselves. Vireos and warblers bathe in rainwater trapped on leaves, and others wallow in dew-covered weeds. Hummingbirds bathe by flying through the mist of a waterfall or lawn sprinkler.
It is not unusual to see a bird drink its bathwater, before or after its bath.
SUNBATHING
Many birds, including cardinals, wrens, woodpeckers, sparrows and hawks, sunbathe. Retired ornithologist Tom J. Cade, who founded The Peregrine Fund in 1970 in Idaho, reported observing sunbathing behavior in 33 species of North American birds. He thinks that such behavior is to control temperature.
Occasionally a ground-feeding bird that emerges from deep shade into bright sunshine will suddenly fold its legs under its belly while it's on the ground, spread its tail feathers like a fan, and with body feathers fluffed and wings spread out over the ground, lie still. In this posture it will sunbathe for two or three minutes.
I once observed a cardinal that maintained the sunbathing posture for 15 minutes, so long that I thought it was dead. It flew away as I approached.
A bird watcher in Great Britain reported seeing a blackbird sunning on the ground
for 26 minutes. Such long periods of sunning are the exceptions, rather than the rule.
Hawks, vultures, cormorants and anhingas sunbathe by perching on a limb, facing the sun and exposing as much of their outspread wings as possible to the sun. The heat and light on the bird's skin causes mites, fleas and lice to move among its feathers, sometimes dislodging dandruff, which makes it easier for the bird to get at them when preening. So sunbathing helps the bird remove parasites and dandruff.
Sunbathing also stimulates the production of vitamin D, a nutrient that reduces skin irritation. Writing in the ornithologist's journal Auk in 1974, Eloise F. Potter and Doris C. Hauser reported that there was a strong correlation between frequency of sunbathing and molting, when a bird's skin is likely to be irritated.
Hauser also observed an unusual behavior called "anting" that sometimes accompanies sunbathing: A bird picks up ants and places them on its body to root among its feathers or it might settle down to sunbathe on top of an ant mound. The ants help to clean the feathers and skin by carrying off dandruff flakes and organic matter.
Sunning appears to be healthful and gives comfort to birds' skin.
DUST BATHING
Quail, house sparrows and domestic chickens, among other fowl, are dust bathers. They form shallow bird-size craters in the dust by scratching the dry earth with their feet. Squatting in these tiny craters with fluffed feathers and flapping wings, they spin about in the dust.
They flip dust onto the back and head with the vigorous flipping of their tails, much as birds do in water bathing.
After dusting, the bird will rise and vigorously shake the dirt from its feathers. Periods of dust bathing are brief, usually less than one minute.
BIRDBATH BASICS
If you wish to put out a birdbath to observe birds bathing, keep these tips in mind.
• The sides of the birdbath should be gently sloping and the bowl no deeper than about 4 inches for a variety of bird species.
• Place the birdbath away from bushes and shrubs where a predator, like a domestic cat, can hide to ambush a wet bird.
• Put the birdbath where it can be easily reached by a garden hose for refilling, or replenished automatically by a lawn sprinkler.
• The bottom of the birdbath should have a rough texture that allows the birds' feet to get a grip. If your birdbath is slick plastic or too deep, submerge rocks or gravel in it.
• Make sure there is a higher perch nearby so a bird can fly there safely to drip-dry and preen.
• Concrete birdbaths are more durable than ceramic or plastic ones for use in summer and winter.
• Clean the birdbath with fresh water and a vigorous brushing every week or 10 days. Do not use toxic cleansers.
• Avoid letting the birdbath go unfilled, since birds will more regularly visit a dependable water supply.
Freelance writer Jerry Butler is an avid birder and frequent contributor on birding topics. Email your comments and stories about Arkansas birds to him at
grandoc@att.net
ActiveStyle on 09/01/2014