Hot asphalt

[KIPPY]

I have always wondered this. I live in Arizona and it gets hot, the asphalt can get really hot. It can burn your feet and dogs feet. So how is it birds can walk on the asphalt like it's nothing?
The post with the pigeon sunning in the parking lot got me thinking about it again.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Kippy,

That is a very good question and it seems to have stumped us all. I've been trying to find answers on this and cannot find anything about why they don't seem bothered by hot pavement. The only "Theory" I have, is that perhaps because the surface area of a bird's foot is so small, that the heat doesn't transfer as much and they can tolerate it longer. It's not a good theory but it was all I could think of.

[Garye]

but maybe they don't have that many blood vessels or nerves in their feet to feel anything. Maybe that pigeon sunning itself is also protected by the sun and the hot asphalt with its feathers. Maybe it makes a cushion against the heat.

[pdpbison]

Hi Kippy,


I wonder about this also, being in Las Vegas where 118 (F) in town is not uncommon and 126 in outlieing areas is not unusual.

Also, I wonder about how their wonderful little feet can tolerate the Cold?

Pigeons in the Northern latitudes where 20 or 40 below zero is not uncommon...a friend of mine lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, and some of her neighbors have Pigeons who fly all year round. Amazing...

Eeeeeesh, how do they do it??????

One of my lived-with-me-for years of ( mysterious Black with white crest, long body and FAST flier, was feral, I found her hurt, she got well and stayed on her own, flying in or out through the kitchen window as she pleased, had many many beautiful babys with her also odd nearly all white mate) Pigeons, an older gal according to some pigeon people, loved the coldest stormiest days here when we had them. If in Winter we had some really rainy or sleeting windy storm of howling winds and col

d, she'd go out and sit on the roof edge or on a leaning ladder top that stuck above the roof by a couple feet, and perch there facing the wind, and just hang out there for hours. Somehow she really liked that...so I allways let her do it. All my other Birds at that time prefered to stay indoors when it was like that...Lol...

Phil

[elvis_911]

Maybe its the rough white sking thats under their feet. Just like shoes for them maybe..i had the same question with walking in snow..and yeah i guess in the summer the asphalt does get really hot, even though i dont exactly live in a "hot" climate.


Elvis

[Garye]

I always wonder how they do it too. I actually worry about them in cold weather, wondering if they'll make it through the night but the next day comes and sure enough, they're at their spot, waiting to greet me. I don't know how they do it. I do know they get extremely hungry when it's very cold. You throw seed at them and they all make a mad dive for it at the same time. I've never seen anything like it. It's funny and yet so sad that they're that hungry. So when I feed them, I make sure to spread the food out so that EVERYONE gets some. I also give them a little more than usual on really cold days.