How do birds cope with heat waves? They pant like dogs then leap and crash to the ground from scorching nests.
Climate change has increased the number of heatwaves. It got so hot in the Pacific Northwest this summer that baby least turns lept from nests to avoid the blazing 108-degree temperatures.
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“A lot of them ended up on the ground with broken bones, and their feet were burning from the concrete,” says Kersti Muul, a conservation scientist with Seattle Audubon.
Pavement temperatures may have spiked to 145 degrees and since birds don’t sweat, panting compensates when the parent can’t provide shade to the chicks.
Unfortunately, muscle movement from panting produces more heat trapped by insulating feathers.
Of the 52 chicks picked up for rehabilitation, only 25 survived.
Chick mortality events like these are expected to increase as a result of climate change and habitat loss.
Birds adapted to cooler conditions are more at risk as rare extreme heat events become more common.