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I live in a region with cold winters (ca. -40 C) and many quite small birds (sparrows, crows, ducks) stay for the winter.

How can the birds survive this?

As I understand it, smaller bodies will be less able to produce and retain heat. Despite this, birds seem to cope much better than humans, sitting in the cold all winter and even swimming in cold water. In comparison, humans lose mobility in their muscles when cold, and can suffer severe frostbite causing them to lose fingers, toes, or limbs from relatively short exposure to the same conditions.

What specific adaptations allow birds to cope so well in these conditions?

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  • $\begingroup$ Are you actually seeing these species where you live during winter? Birds tend to be migratory. Feathers and fats tend to make fairly good insulators though. They would need a food source and some form of shelter. But I would assume if you do not see them in the winter, then they have migrated towards the equator. $\endgroup$
    – AMR
    Jan 10, 2016 at 23:43
  • $\begingroup$ Also, if it is actually water, then it is greater than 0°C, so the water may actually be warmer than the air temp. And like I said above, fat and feathers make for good insulation. $\endgroup$
    – AMR
    Jan 10, 2016 at 23:45
  • $\begingroup$ @AMR: yes, I actually see them. Maybe there are less birds than in summer, but there definitely are many. I know they should migrate, but for some reason they don't really always do that.. idk, the migration thing seems broken, I see really many birds in winter in the city. Yeah, they can find heat sources in the city, but still they spend quite much time just wandering around in the cold. Good point about the water temperature.. Idk how, but sometimes, when it's -20C, some parts of the city channels are not iced, probably someting warms the water.. $\endgroup$
    – noncom
    Jan 11, 2016 at 0:13
  • $\begingroup$ @AMR: also - what about their legs? They are in no way protected... still their muscules and joints do not suffer, they can just as easy grip to their sitting place, like a branch or a wire.. $\endgroup$
    – noncom
    Jan 11, 2016 at 0:19
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    $\begingroup$ Which birds, many birds have very different responses and adaptations to winter. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jun 29, 2022 at 2:04

1 Answer 1

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During cold weather, birds will go into torpor where they will reduce their metabolic rate to conserve energy over the night. This burns fewer calories and maintains fat reserves that help insulate them from cold temperatures. Behaviorally, many bird species will roost communally to share heat among each other.

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    Jun 23, 2016 at 1:18

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