I have just witnessed the most adorable thing. As anyone in Melbourne will have noticed it is a tad warm at the moment. My weather station, as I type, shows it to be 44 (shaded) degrees in my back garden. We have an evapourative cooler, which is currently keeping the house at a bearable 27 degrees. Anyone who has ever owned one of these devices knows that you actually keep the windows and, if security allows, doors open. I have just witnessed two Speckled Turtle Doves standing just outside by back screen-door - wings slightly outstretched - cooling themselves in the air flowing from inside the house. I have dumped several loads of ice in our fountain over the past 2 days, so that the water was as cold as possible for the birds to drink. They seem to be ignoring this in favour of the benefits delivered by my cooling system. And who said birds were not smart??
JC.
That's a great little story. I've heard similar things about birds moving into places they wouldn't normally go just to get out of the heat in Vic and Adelaide over the past few days.