BirdCapeMay.org

Q: Do a duck's feet get cold?

A: Yes, but ducks and other cold-weather birds have special ways to cope with the low temperatures.

A duck's downy feathers and high pulse rate help it keep a normal body temperature of about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, no matter the weather.

In many birds, the arteries and veins in their legs are so close they touch. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, and veins carry blood back to the heart. The blood moving from the bird's body to its feet is 104F. But, the blood in the veins of the foot is normally cool.

That means as the warm blood travels through the arteries towards the feet, the close-lying veins cool the blood. Likewise, as the cool blood moves from the foot back towards the bird's heart, heat from the close-lying arteries warms the blood back to body temperature. Birds can also constrict the blood vessels in their feet to reduce the amount of blood flow there.

Q: If you feed birds in the winter will they become dependent on your feeders year-round?

A: No, birds will use seed to augment their diet especially during the winter when other food sources may not be as plentiful. High protein foods like black oil sunflower seeds and suet cakes are good winter food sources that you can put out at your home.

It is also favorable to have a water source available and heated bird baths provide water for birds when temperatures drop and other sources may be frozen.

During the spring and summer you may notice that the number of birds visiting your feeder may drop as other sources of food become available with the warmer climate such as insects, fruits and seeds.

Q: How many birds migrate past the Avalon Sea Watch each fall?

A: This year the Avalon Sea Watch had a record high of 1,015,318 birds counted with a total of 99 species. This broke the old seasonal record of 976,213. The yearly average (which does not include 2007) is 777,991.

To see the daily totals for the entire 2007 season, please visit View from the Field.