Val and all,
Here in the Blue Mountains I also find that the birds do seem to bathe more
in winter, when the water in my birdbath is close to freezing (that is,
when it hasn't actually turned into a skating rink for rosellas!) and even
the daytime temperature often doesn't rise above 10 degrees.
I have always assumed that this is because in winter, it is more important
for birds to keep their feathers clean and well groomed in order to provide
better insulation against the cold.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba NSW
At 8:13 AM +1000 3/7/02, Val Ford wrote:
>Last night I mentioned to a group of people that I was surprised to see
>how active the birds are at the bird bath at this time of the year. The
>Brown Thornbills, Singing Honeyeater and Eastern Spinebill seem to be
>bathing many times a day.
>
>Later, someone said to me that she had been told by Graham Pizzey that
>birds bathe a lot in the winter to keep warm/ up.
>
>Has anybody else heard of this explanation?
>
>Val Ford
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