Do birds yawn?
Other Ways Birds Keep Cool
Catching a bird sitting with its beak open can be an odd sight when the summer weather heats up. At first glance, you might think this bird is sick or just a little weird, but they actually do so for good reasons, and in this article, we’ll detail why.
Birds sit with their mouths open just to cool off. Unlike humans, birds don’t sweat, so they pant with their mouths open like dogs to facilitate heat loss. The technical term for this is “gular fluttering” – which is the bird version of panting. The rate of panting may also increase, or the bird may open its mouth wide to achieve higher cooling levels.
While you’re most likely to see birds like robins and thrushes sitting or perching with their bills open, birds like crows and rooks also fly with their bills open to the same effect.
Besides cooling, birds open their mouths for more obvious reasons, such as singing, threatening displays, and feeding.
Panting golden eagle in hot weather
Do birds yawn?
All birds yawn, but there is debate as to whether this is a pure “jaw extension” or regularly involves the inhalation and exhalation of air. Because of this, there are many different opinions on whether or not birds “really yawn”.
Cormorants and boobies are the birds where “jaw extension” is most observed, due to their ability to bend their upper beak upward at the nose-frontal hinge. With most other birds, it’s difficult to tell if they’re actually breathing when they open their beaks.
Because of this difficulty, ornithologists have spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether birds are actually yawning “correctly,” but have been unable to definitively answer the question.
yawning cormorant
Other Ways Birds Keep Cool
In addition to panting and opening their beaks, birds will bathe and/or spread their wings to let the breeze cool them down. They also adjust their routines and activities to the climate – which is why sometimes on hot days we only see certain birds in the cooler mornings and evenings.
As with these other methods, when the weather warms up, birds also consume more water than usual to stay hydrated and maintain a healthy temperature.
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I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
