EP33: Okay, but how do birds handle a heatwave?

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Release Date: Jul 30, 2026

When the air temperature climbs past a bird's own body temperature, staying cool stops being free and starts to cost them water they may not have. Dr. Blair Wolf, University of New Mexico, has spent his career studying how desert birds survive heat that should kill them, and what happens when it finally gets too hot.

  • In this episode:

    • Why some backyard birds can shrug off oven-like temperatures while others just a few feet away don't make it

    • The strange, water-saving trick birds use to dump heat without a single drop of sweat

    • What the birds dying in these heatwaves are trying to tell us about what's coming

  • All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Bird media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:

    • White-winged Dove audio contributed by Raphaël Nussbaumer, ML571978241

    • Verdin audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML197163

    • Black-throated Sparrow audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML573935831

    • Black-throated Sparrow video contributed by Benjamin Clock, ML483211

    • Mourning Dove audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML583603101

    • Mourning Dove audio contributed by Anonymous, ML658417476

    • Palm Cockatoo audio contributed by Emma Greig, ML201266

    • Rosy-faced Lovebird audio contributed by Derek Solomon, ML168222

    • Common Eider audio contributed by Bob McGuire, ML235534

Next

EP32: Okay, but how does wildfire smoke impact birds?