How Birds Control Their Temperature

Controlling body temperature is literally a matter of life or death for a bird in the wild. The warm-blooded animal regulates temperature with a combination of physical characteristics and behaviors. Captive birds, typically, don't have to deal with fluctuating weather conditions, thanks to their humans and their thermostats.

  1. Feathers

    • Birds control temperature with their feathers. They have a layer of down feathers beneath the outer layer. By fluffing up or flattening their feathers, they create air pockets between the body and the outer feathers that keep him warm. By smoothing his feathers down, the bird forces warm air out and away from his body. The color of some birds' feathers reflect heat. In the cold, birds sometimes huddle alone or together, pulling one foot up at a time or crouching over their feet to maintain warmth.

    Soaking up Rays

    • On clear days when the weather is cold, birds take advantage of warmth from the sun. They will perch in direct sunlight and may spread their wings to let the warming beams touch as much of their body surface as possible. According to Trevor Carnaby in his 2008 book "Beat about the Bush: Birds," some birds sun themselves on the ground, opening their wings and lying flat to catch the sun's rays from above, while absorbing heat from the sun-warmed ground from below.

    Shelter

    • Shelter serves useful for helping birds control temperature regardless of the season. Holing up in a nest or beneath an overhang will help a bird stay warm when the weather is chilly and dry when it is wet, as will nesting on or under a surface that warms like gravel or a shingled roof. Alternatively, roosting in the shade will keep him cool during hot days. When temperatures are sizzling, it's not uncommon to see a bird of any type perched high in a tree with his wings slightly spread, taking advantage of the cooler breezes that blow higher up from ground level.

    Cooling Water

    • Since they're incapable of sweating like humans do, birds need water to help control body temperature. Drinking water is an obvious solution when it's hot, and birds do that, but they use water in additional ways to help cool down. Some will wade into cool water, while others like to get soaked to the bone to cool off. That's why you may see birds splashing in a puddle or birdbath, frolicking in a sprinkler or even diving into deep water to fully submerse themselves, depending on what type of birds they are.

    Generating Heat

    • Birds need to eat more when it's cold. They have high metabolism to begin with, but in frigid temperatures they need to generate heat to stay alive, and eating becomes more important. Just like your body does, when a bird consumes calories, his body converts it to energy -- or heat -- which brings his core body temperature up.

    Your Pet Bird

    • According to Russ Shade in his 2004 book "The Practical Pionus," maintaining an indoor temperature in a range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit should keep your parrot happy and healthy. In a pinch, your bird should be able to handle an even wider range of temperatures, dipping as low as 40 or rising as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit as long as the temperature change is gradual and doesn't spike or drop suddenly. If your bird fluffs up when his room is the proper temperature, visit the avian vet.