Your body's black. It's hot and sunny. Surely you'd go rest in the shade?
Not if you're a blackbird!
Yesterday I was in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens on a hot norwester afternoon, and lots of the resident blackbirds were out sunbathing.
Your body's black. It's hot and sunny. Surely you'd go rest in the shade?
Not if you're a blackbird!
Yesterday I was in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens on a hot norwester afternoon, and lots of the resident blackbirds were out sunbathing.
Some birds sunbathe to look after their feathers.
I've known that it's good for driving out external parasites. I read now on the website of the British Trust for Ornithology that it also "helps oil from the 'preen gland' to spread across the feathers, keeping them healthy and in good condition."
https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/behaviour/preening-bathing