Sunbathing ?

[ksg1970]

Hi we noticed a couple of birds today ( a Robin and a blackbird) who sat on the ground and spread their wings as if they were lying down in the sun. Is this a birds way of trying to cool down ? I have never seen this before.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

I had exactly the same with a male blackbird, he was sat on the ground in the shade with his beak wide open and his wings spread. I was going to take the sun lounger over for him

[RobSutton]

Were there ants around? They could be anting - letting them crawl over their feathers to, presumably, help keep parasites under control.

[poohbear]

I took this yesterday...bit wobbly with the camera unfortunately.Hope he's using suncream

[ellen h]

I saw this bird(blackbird?) and thought it was dead till it suddenly shook itself amd flew away! Apparently sunbathing at the top of a tree
ellen

[Kayleigh]

I thought I saw a blackbird sunbathing in the tree so tried to get close but it was dead sort of just hanging in the tree..

[earthdragon64]

I think this is something that birds do to cool down, it has been really hot here and today I saw some Collared Doves sitting in the grass, with their wings outstretched. Usually they only sit in the trees, fence or bird tables.

I've also seen this in the past with Blackbirds, but again only on the hottest days.

[ellen h]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I thought I saw a blackbird sunbathing in the tree so tried to get close but it was dead sort of just hanging in the tree..

Bizarre! Thats what I thought I was looking at too,as you can see from the photo was at a seemingly odd angle.....

[aeshna5]

Birds do sun (as well as rain + dust) bathe to keep their plumage in condition. Vitamin D wil be obtained this way. Blackbirds + various pigeons tend to be the birds I most frequently see doing this.

[NickCosmoSonde]

http://s675.photobucket.com/albums/v...ackbird001.jpg