{"id":129982,"date":"2024-07-01T02:43:52","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T07:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=129982"},"modified":"2024-07-01T15:40:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T20:40:24","slug":"how-an-american-robin-handles-hot-summer-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/01\/how-an-american-robin-handles-hot-summer-days\/","title":{"rendered":"How An American Robin Handles Hot Summer Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was very hot yesterday when I photographed this American Robin. The heat index was 109\u00b0F, I was melting. What do these birds do to help them handle the heat?<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Robin with their bill open on a hot summer day \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My research shows that some of these help the birds:<\/p>\n

Taking dips in water<\/strong>: American Robins will often bathe in birdbaths, fountains, or other water sources to cool off. Having moist feathers allows heat to dissipate quickly from their bodies.<\/p>\n

Seeking shade<\/strong>: During the hottest parts of the day, American Robins will often retreat to shaded areas to avoid direct sun exposure.<\/p>\n

Adjusting activity patterns<\/strong>: American Robins may become more active during cooler parts of the day, like early morning and evening, and take “power naps” during peak heat.<\/p>\n

Panting<\/strong>: Like many birds, American Robins release heat by panting with their bills open, which helps vent heat and moisture. Many birds, including American Robins, use this method to cool down.<\/p>\n

In some bird species they use a specialized form of evaporative cooling called gular fluttering. It involves rapid vibration of the throat and mouth areas (the gular area). This method is particularly effective and is commonly seen in birds like nightjars, pelicans, owls, ravens, cormorants, and herons.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Robin on a sweltering hot summer day \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Robin I photographed kept its bill open the entire time it was in my view. It was extremely warm.<\/p>\n

Robins aren’t the only perching birds I have seen with their bills open during the high temperatures of the day. I’ve observed Common Grackles, House Finches, House Sparrows, Blue Jays, and other birds panting in this heat. This coming week is supposed to be even hotter in this part of the country.<\/p>\n

To help American Robins and other birds during hot summers, you can provide clean water sources like birdbaths and dripping water sources, maintain shaded areas in your yard, and avoid using pesticides that might harm their food sources.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

How Do Birds Handle the Heat?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Robin photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was very hot yesterday when I photographed this American Robin. The heat index was 109\u00b0F, I was melting. What do these birds do to help them handle the heat?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,13950,27,13951],"tags":[4004,2427,4142,6660,13931,5412,4212,15288,15287,15286,1655,4046,6642,5199,2315,3844,4881,1048,8018,13966],"class_list":["post-129982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-robins","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-american-robin","tag-close-up","tag-day","tag-garden","tag-gular-fluttering","tag-heat","tag-heat-dispersal","tag-heat-wave","tag-heated","tag-hot","tag-portrait","tag-robin","tag-robins","tag-summer-3","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-turdus-migratorius","tag-urban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/american-robin-hot-summer-day-mia-mcpherson-7202.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xOu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58989,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/14\/american-robins-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":129982,"position":0},"title":"American Robins In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Just looking at these photos of American Robins in the deep snow made me feel a few degrees cooler and I thought they might have the same effects on other people dealing with the high temps of summer too.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An American Robin in deep snow with an eye on the sky, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4852.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91083,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/27\/adult-american-robin-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":129982,"position":1},"title":"Adult American Robin Portrait – Photos Can Transport Us To Another Place And Time","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the birds I photographed on the June morning was this American Robin that was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of it.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult American Robin portrait, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0253.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0253.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":132009,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/08\/american-robin-nesting-in-august-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":129982,"position":2},"title":"American Robin Nesting In August In Arkansas?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I never thought I'd see an American Robin nesting in August, but I have. August in Arkansas should be too hot for robins to be nesting now. I guess it\u2019s not.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin with nesting material, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-robin-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-9316.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-robin-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-9316.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-robin-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-9316.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-robin-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-9316.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53889,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/30\/immature-american-robins-foraging-in-chokecherry-trees\/","url_meta":{"origin":129982,"position":3},"title":"Immature American Robins Foraging in Chokecherry Trees","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"There was plenty of bird activity where chokecherry trees lined both sides of the gravel road, the most numerous birds foraging on the chokecherries were American Robins and many of them were immature birds.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature American Robin in a chokecherry tree, Smith and Morehouse Reservoir, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-immature-chokecherry-mia-mcpherson-1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-immature-chokecherry-mia-mcpherson-1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-immature-chokecherry-mia-mcpherson-1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-immature-chokecherry-mia-mcpherson-1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":129829,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/25\/bathing-american-robin-adult-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":129982,"position":4},"title":"Bathing American Robin Adult In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It got really hot yesterday and if there were a bird bath here I might have gotten into it and splashed around like this bathing American Robin did in April.","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bathing American Robin in Arkansas, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/american-robin-arkansas-bathing-mia-mcpherson-2341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/american-robin-arkansas-bathing-mia-mcpherson-2341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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