To the hydration stations! How to help wild birds hydrate

Around the globe hot weather is more common than ever. Since 1884 the top ten warmest years on record have all occurred in the last two decades.

In the heat of summer wildlife can really suffer without access to regular supplies of fresh, clean water. For birds, with their small bodies and active daily lives, consistent hydration is even more vital. What’s more, the need extends far beyond the hottest days of summer.

Why do birds need water?

 Birds don’t have sweat glands and therefore need less water than mammals. They do however, lose quite a bit through respiration, evaporation, on hot days, and in their droppings. Like any animal, birds will not survive without water - which they need for both drinking and bathing. 

Drinking water is vital to help move spent nutrients from the body through the kidneys. However, equally important for bird health is access to water for bathing. They use this water both for cooling off in summer and keeping warm in winter.

It’s this winter use of water that comes as a surprise to many. However, by dipping into water birds remove dirt from their feathers, which makes it easier to preen. Preening is when birds carefully rearrange their feathers, adding oil from the preening gland as they do so. This waterproofs the feathers and traps layers of air between them to insulate for warmth.

Did you know that the white stuff in bird poop is actually pee? As a water-saving measure and to keep body weight down, birds excrete uric acid from the kidneys. Which explains the paste we see all over our windscreens. 

Where do New Zealand birds get water from?

 For many birds, much of their liquid comes from their food intake. Insects contain a lot of water so insectivorous birds will satisfy much of their water needs this way. Nectar is mostly liquid, so that’s great for the nectar-sippers such as tūī and bellbird. Birds that feed predominantly on seed (e.g finches, sparrows and yellowhammers) have a dry diet, so they need to drink more water.

Otherwise, birds drink from droplets of water on leaves, puddles or pools of water on the ground, and ponds and streams – usually about twice a day. In summer a lot of those smaller and more accessible sources of water dry up. In winter they can freeze over. That’s why putting out water in our gardens is so helpful for New Zealand birds.

To drink, most birds fill their beaks with water and tilt their heads back to let gravity move the water into their digestive tract.