Wildlife Keeping Cool

Like us, many wild animals find different ways to try to keep cool when it’s hot outside. This is particularly relevant given increasingly warmer temperatures resulting from climate change. You may be surprised to find they have a lot of similar approaches to staying cool as we do.…

American Robin gular fluttering

Birds use a behavior, similar to panting, called “gular fluttering”. With this, they keep their mouths open and breathe quickly. This causes evaporation, like sweating, which helps release extra heat with each breath.

Osprey gular fluttering

This “gular fluttering” is used by many different types of birds. This includes many songbirds, owls, hawks, cormorants, and others.

American Robin in a bird bath

Many birds take baths, or go swimming, to cool off. As is the case with us when we go swimming, this dissipates body heat to the cooler water around them.

Great Blue Heron

After taking a bath, some birds fluff up their feathers and open their wings. This helps them better catch a breeze and cool off even more.

Gray Catbird

Some birds will spread their wings to provide shade for their young in the nest. Some hawks, herons, and songbirds (for example, Gray Catbirds) have been observed doing this.

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vultures use a behavior called “urohydrosis” to cool themselves off. This is when they urinate down their legs to cool themselves off. This also helps kill bacteria picked up from feeding on carcasses.

Eastern Garter Snake

Finding shade to rest and/or feed in is one of the most common ways that many different types of animals try to stay cool. Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even a wide range of invertebrates take this approach.

White-tailed Deer doe and two fawns resting in some shade

Many animals reduce their activity during the hottest time of day in peak summer heat. This often involves finding some shade and resting in it.

Coyote panting

Other than humans, most mammals don’t sweat much. Instead they pant as a way to cool down. This is commonly observed in foxes, coyotes, deer, racoons, and many other mammals.

Bobcat

Mammals, in particular, have some non-behavioral ways of keeping from overheating in summer. One is that they have shorter and less dense fur in the summer.

Eastern Cottontail

Also, some mammals, like White-Tailed Deer and Eastern Cottontails, have long ears. These ears have many blood vessels. When air blows across them, it cools the blood flowing through the body.

Mallards resting in the shade

Next time you’re outside on a hot afternoon, see how many animals you observed escaping the heat in these ways.

Some Ways You Can Help Wildlife Beat the Heat:

  • Provide a shallow (< 2 inches of water) bird bath. Make sure to clean out your bath daily, to keep the water clean. Here are some other tips to follow when having a bird bath.

  • Provide natural shade in your yard by planting (native) shrubs and trees for birds and other animals to use.

  • If you are planning to prune shrubs and/or trees in your yard, wait to do so until temperatures cool off.

  • Provide debris piles (made of sticks, branches, and leaves) in strategic places in your yard as a place for animals to find some safe shade in.