Fun Facts About Water & Birds

- Hummingbirds will bathe in shallow water sources like natural pools or dishes, and enjoy “showering” in sprinklers and misters.

- Hummingbirds may consume 70 percent of their body weight, in solid food per day (8 to 12 calories) and 4 to 8 times their body weight, in water.

- Gray Catbirds love water and could visit moving water features in your yard.

- Mourning Doves are unable to sweat, so to stay cool during hot weather … they pant just like a dog. Panting requires the doves to drink a great deal of water due the excessive loss of moisture to evaporation.

- Mourning Doves are one of the few species of birds that drink by sucking up their water instead of taking a bill full of water and letting it trickle down their throat. It can suck up its total daily requirement in less than 20 seconds.

- House Finches are often attracted to a water source. They can drink up to 40% of their body weight on a hot summer day.

- Goldfinch drink frequently and will stay close to reliable sources of water during dry periods due to their almost exclusive diet of seeds.

- House Sparrows can swim when it needs to for survival. They have even been observed swimming underwater when threatened.

- Water is also vitally important when it's extremely hot and a bird’s ability to regulate its body temperature can become stressed. Birds do not sweat and must remove excess body heat through their respiratory system. So when temperatures rise, a bird's respiration rate increases, sometimes to the point that it can be seen panting like a dog. This activity dehydrates birds and increases their need for a reliable source of water to replace lost fluids.

Add some water and watch for these fun facts in action!

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