Dorking & District Local RSPB Group: Birds Sunbathing
On a sunny day in July, a bird was ‘sunbathing’ on the trunk of a fallen tree with its wings spread out, prompting the author to investigate this activity further.
An article by BTO entitled ‘Sunbathing Birds’ opens with the following paragraph:
‘Sunbathing’ is used by some birds as part of their routine feather maintenance and is most commonly seen by garden birdwatchers in Blackbirds and Robins. The birds invariably adopt a posture in which the body feathers are fluffed up and one or both wings are held out from the body, with feathers spread. It is thought that using the sun in this way does two things. It both helps the preen oil to spread across the feathers and drives parasites out from within the plumage. Some of these parasites feed on the feathers themselves and all are highly specialised, with many only found on a single species of bird.
The sunbathing bird (top) in this case was a juvenile Robin, but it is interesting to consider whether this is instinctive, innate behaviour in a recently fledged bird or whether it had been taught to do this by its parents.
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