Okay, but how do birds handle a heatwave?

E33. When the air temperature climbs past a bird's own body temperature, staying cool stops being free and starts to cost them water they may not have. Dr. Blair Wolf, University of New Mexico, has spent his career studying how desert birds survive heat that should kill them, and what happens when it finally gets too hot.

In this episode you'll hear about:

Why some backyard birds can shrug off oven-like temperatures while others just a few feet away don't make it
The strange, water-saving trick birds use to dump heat without a single drop of sweat
What the birds dying in these heatwaves are trying to tell us about what's coming

All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:

White-winged Dove audio contributed by Raphaël Nussbaumer, ML571978241
Verdin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML197163
Black-throated Sparrow audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML573935831
Black-throated Sparrow video contributed by Benjamin Clock, ML483211
Mourning Dove audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML583603101
Mourning Dove audio contributed by Anonymous, ML658417476
Palm Cockatoo audio contributed by Emma Greig, ML201266
Rosy-faced Lovebird audio contributed by Derek Solomon, ML168222
Common Eider audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235534

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Avsnitt(36)

Okay, but what's the deal with Darwin's finches?

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Okay, but what's the deal with nests?

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Okay, but how does wildfire smoke impact birds?

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Okay, but did birds invent music?

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Okay, but is the dawn chorus getting quieter?

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Okay, but what's it like as a bird at the top of the world?

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2 Juli 34min

Okay, but does easy living make birds dumber?

E28. A bird's brain is the most expensive thing it owns, and evolution doesn't hand one out for free. Dr. Carlos Botero, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has spent a decade tr...

25 Juni 32min