common_nature | Starlings Bathing

Starlings bathing en-masse. Most people think of birds bathing as a warm-weather thing, but it's equally important to them in cold weather, if not moreso. Bathing gets rid of parasites and itchiness all year round, but in cold weather, having non-dusty feathers keeps one much warmer. The temporary discomfort of the cold water is more than compensated by the ability to sleep warmly in clean feathers.

Yesterday was a grey, autumnal day, windy and cold. For most of the afternoon the sparrows and woodpeckers were hitting the bath and feeders quite heavily, but toward evening the starlings arrived in their bazillions. The time for nests and babies is long past now, and the little family groups of the spring and summer have given way to the huge foraging flocks of the autumn and winter. Some of these may possibly be local birds that I've seen often throughout the summer. The odds are good, in fact, that that's how the flock knew to come here. There are advantages to mass foraging.

The bath is almost empty of water at this point, most of it having been splashed out. I considered going out to refill it, but the day was almost over, and I feared that interrupting them would put an end to bathing for the day. They're obviously still getting something out of it, however little is left, and their enthusiasm and determination seems to grow as the water vanishes. They're much like anyone in this regard, mobbing a vanishing resource to try and get their bit before it's all gone.