You’re hot. We’re hot. The birds are hot. While we can strip to our vests and put our feet in washing up bowls of ice-cold water, birds have a few cooler ways to cope when the temperatures rise.

In the recent RSPB blog post they explain how birds cool down when it’s hot and give these tips on what we can do to help them in the heat, along with some useful links.

You can read the full blog post here

Image: RSPB

Put out water and keep it topped up

Water is scarce in a heatwave so if you can, give the birds a much-needed drink or bath. We’ve put together a guide to bird baths and providing water for birds here.

A mini pond is also a good way of providing water in smaller gardens and can attract a lot of other wildlife too. See our guide to making a mini pond.

Keep feeding the birds

Food shortages can happen at any time. In the heat of summer it is harder for birds such as Blackbirds to find worms and other minibeasts living in the ground because it is so hard. Filling feeders can also help out parents looking for more food to feed their hungry chicks.

The trick is to put out just a little but often because the warm weather could turn it rotten more quickly. Black sunflower seeds, soaked sultanas and a quality seed mix are good choices. Stay clear of peanuts, homemade fat balls and bread as these can be harmful if adult birds feed them to their chicks.

Keep things clean

As always, try and keep your bird bath and feeders as clean as possible. Take a look at our top tips on keeping your garden birds healthy.