Where Do Birds Go When It Rains? - How Birds Stay Dry

Birds often disappear when it rains. But where do they go? And how do they stay dry? Let's find out. Please subscribe to continue learning what makes life AWESOME: BioBush.tv/subscribe
The simple answer to where the birds go is that they take shelter to avoid getting their delicate, insulating feathers wet. Feathers don't work as well when wet so birds can become cold and unable to fly if they are out in the rain long enough. They hide in bushes, trees, under bridges, in buildings, etc. But you still might see some birds like ducks and gulls out in the rain.
THAT is the much more interesting fact about birds, is that they have a couple of ways to resist water. They use an oil-producing gland or specialized self-destructing feathers to make water bead up and bounce off. You are about to learn why water falls off a duck's back.
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Copyright
Photo "American avocet at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge" by USFWS Mountain-Prairie, via Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmt.... Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
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Пікірлер: 45

  • @u5ernam3unavailabl3
    @u5ernam3unavailabl32 жыл бұрын

    Great video. Recently a pair of Crows have nested in a tree a few meters directly in front of my window and I've been feeding them bits of meat regularly. I have found it fascinating watching their baby grow in the last few weeks. It's the middle of the torrential monsoon where I am, and I find myself worrying how the nestling keeps warm when it's raining so heavily at night. Thanks for the info!

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    Isn't it amazing how many challenges animals can overcome? And they do all these different amazing things in the course of their daily lives. I'm glad you found this video helpful. Thank you for watching!

  • @TheWildlifeBrothers
    @TheWildlifeBrothers3 жыл бұрын

    I’ve always wondered about this, I learned a ton and answered some of my long-held questions, thank you so much for this Steve! Birds really are amazing animals! - Harrison and Evan

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hi Harrison and Evan! I'm glad this could help solve a mystery for you. I appreciate you taking time to learn about birds with me!

  • @ShelbyOnSafari
    @ShelbyOnSafari3 жыл бұрын

    Ahhh you got some incredible footage! I loved seeing the mallard preening, I just think it’s incredible how fast they do it!

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Shelby! A clarification: the bird media in this video is all licensed from various media libraries. I do spend hours digging up good pictures that illustrate what I'm saying for each video, but I don't usually use my own footage. I just wanted to express gratitude to the multitude of photographers out there who put generous licenses on their work. Anyway, I agree that preening is fascinating to watch. I guess they can't spend very much time on each feather because they have like 10,000 feathers. Thank you for watching!

  • @Ecotasia
    @Ecotasia3 жыл бұрын

    Great video, those poor poor owls without any way to keep the rain out of their feathers.

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Tradeoffs for being one of the best hunters in the world for their specific niche. I guess every superhero needs a weakness. They do all right despite their vulnerability to rain. Thanks for your support. Have a great week!

  • @michaelaspencer2488
    @michaelaspencer24882 жыл бұрын

    This was awesome! Thank you so much for answering all of my questions in 3 mins!!😊👍

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi Michaela! I'm glad you found this helpful. There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

  • @Drummasterjay
    @Drummasterjay2 жыл бұрын

    Dope footage, great narration and information. Thanks!

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the kind words, Jay! There is so much out there to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

  • @carmengreenwood5369
    @carmengreenwood53693 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for sharing this valuable information

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Carmen! I'm glad you found it helpful. There are so many interesting things to learn about birds!

  • @una8567
    @una8567 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for your kind explanation of how birds stay dry 🙏

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad you found it helpful, Una! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

  • @matthiasjagdm3949
    @matthiasjagdm39493 жыл бұрын

    Thank you always kinda wonder about this

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hi Matthias! I'm glad you learned something new in this video. A fact that didn't make this video is that Anhinga, while being water birds, do not have waterproof feathers. They just dive in, get waterlogged, and sink. But their hunting strategy is to swim underwater and spearfish in hidden nooks and crannies. The wet feathers help them sink. Then they have to dry out before effective flight can happen again. Thank you for watching again this week!

  • @MyBirdingYear
    @MyBirdingYear3 жыл бұрын

    Always look forward to watching your videos and learning something new. Thanks for this and have a great weekend!

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you, My Birding Year! The original plan for this channel was to make about 50 videos about birds then move on to other animal groups. But over 100 videos in the field regularly offers surprising insights that are worth sharing in a video. I'm glad you are finding value in them. Thank you for watching!

  • @MyBirdingYear

    @MyBirdingYear

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@BioBush For some reason I can see your comment on my Wood Pigeon video in notifications but can't access it on the video page to reply. Anyway, happy for you to use the quote in your video and look forward to hearing your insights. Have a great Sunday!

  • @melissaaM18
    @melissaaM18 Жыл бұрын

    How do baby birds survive rain storms without any feathers? I’m especially curious about birds like Osprey where the babies don’t have any tree cover and the nests are left exposed?

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    Жыл бұрын

    That's a good question, Melissa! I'm going to guess that the parents have a sense for how long they can leave between needing to warm up their chicks. The chicks also have a metabolism that keeps them warm (though it must be unpleasant for them to get wet). And there is some literal survivorship bias, in that rain is a challenge and probably not all osprey chicks survive a rainstorm, but enough do that the species can continue. I appreciate you watching!

  • @antd8259
    @antd82593 жыл бұрын

    Interesting

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you, Anthony! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

  • @davidwatson5169
    @davidwatson516910 ай бұрын

    Hi Steve❤❤❤

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    10 ай бұрын

    Hi David! Thanks for taking the time to learn about birds. There is so much out there to learn!

  • @bonafide154
    @bonafide1542 жыл бұрын

    Sort of off topic question - but I am dying to know - the question is about the whole concept of eagles and flying into storms and heavy rain 🌧 and include the following: 1. Do eagles having the ability to be able fly through heavy and hard rain with thunderstorm and thick heavy clouds that ascend no more than 10k feet in the sky? 2. Have you heard of or seen an eagle in real time or live be able to perform such an act?

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi Bonafide! I hadn't heard of this before, but it's an interesting story. I can see how it would be very inspirational to people going through tough changes. So I am also going in skeptical that it is real. The claim is that eagles use the rising air around a thunderstorm (which is real) to fly above the clouds instead of through them. Eagles do soar on convection currents, so I do think this is something someone saw at some point. But whether it's their strategy to fly above the clouds? Not sure. An image search for "eagle rain" will reveal many pictures of wet eagles in the rain. I do not think that eagles would choose to fly through the thunderstorm, and I have never observed this myself. Hope that helps!

  • @Themsbeatlesrock
    @Themsbeatlesrock2 жыл бұрын

    Hi, thanks for the video. What do birds and other animals do during windy storms like 18 mph+? Thx

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    You're welcome! They do the same thing - find shelter anywhere it's available and wait for the storm to pass. For a really windy storm birds may have the ability to fly around it - leaving the area before it arrives. They can fly in windy storms, which is dangerous but possible. Birds sometimes get carried by storms to faraway places, like a flock of chimney swifts that was carried all the way to Europe! I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!

  • @dorkusamericanus
    @dorkusamericanus3 жыл бұрын

    Seems like there are a few Australian species of birds that have powdery down (Cockatiels, Cockatoos), and I don’t know if there’s anything about Australia’s climate that makes it so that this adaptation is better suited for the warm, dry, climate

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hi Dorkus! I was just looking up a list of species with powder down, and apparently all parrots have powder down feathers to varying degrees. That was new. But I'm not sure what the unifying factor is, because there are herons and tinamous and bustards, which are in different bird orders. For parrots, Cockatoos and African Greys and Mealy Amazons make tons of powder, and they are all on different continents. Your point that it might be climate could be right. This is one of the bird mysteries that I also want to know the answer. Thank you for watching!

  • Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for your video! I was wondering if the birds that come eat are doing ok during these heavy rains.

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    Жыл бұрын

    Thank you, Shaina! Birds have been around for a long time, and they have found ways to succeed in every type of weather. It's amazing how many things there are to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

  • @verykozi
    @verykozi3 жыл бұрын

    10/10

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Kozi! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

  • @Naomi1
    @Naomi13 жыл бұрын

    I like the narrator

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for the kind words, Naomi! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

  • @janiznick
    @janiznick2 жыл бұрын

    6 baby birds are in my window sill eating the nutz and it s raining like crazy. I hope their nest didnt blow out the tree but they have been here 4 hours is this normal

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi Nick! I'm sure they are sheltering from the rain, and will return to their normal activity when the rain slows down (or they need to go eat). It's so nice of you to show concern for them. Thanks for watching!

  • @kashkama0078
    @kashkama00782 жыл бұрын

    It’s raining rn in la I see 2 birds

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    That's great, Kashkam! There is so much to appreciate about birds. Thanks for watching!

  • @kamalinimalhotra2695
    @kamalinimalhotra26952 жыл бұрын

    Oh I see. Gods miracles, but humans must give them a helping hand also.

  • @BioBush

    @BioBush

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi Kamalini! There are so many amazing things out there to discover, unexplained mysteries in plain sight. We will never run out of new things to learn. It's an amazing world that way. Thank you for watching!