ITALIAN APENNINE MOUNTAINS — Female southern pied babblers repeatedly peck at a transparent barrier when ambient temperatures rise instead of navigating around it to access food.
Southern pied babblers also require twice as many trials to associate a specific lid shade with a food reward during heat waves compared to cooler conditions. Zebra finches also repeatedly peck at a transparent tube during high temperatures instead of navigating to the opening to retrieve food. Elizabeth Derryberry, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said, "It's the bird equivalent of banging your head against a brick wall."
Amanda Ridley, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Western Australia and co-author of a study on southern pied babblers, stated, "A changing climate means that your ability to behaviorally adapt is even more important." High temperatures are associated with birds reducing time spent foraging and feeding offspring. Some animals respond to high temperatures by retreating to shade or burrows and skipping feeding.
Other animals have also shown altered behavior during high temperatures. Bees have been observed splashing water droplets on their faces during flight in hot weather. Emily Baird, a neuroscientist at Stockholm University, said, "They get convective cooling for their brain." She added, "A hotter brain could hinder the functioning of nerves, and that might affect sensing, memory, and learning."
Researchers observed wild chamois in the Italian Apennine Mountains for over 1,600 hours across two summers. Chamois aggression increased when temperatures rose from 54°F to 64°F and vegetation availability decreased. Other examples include golden julie fish, which exhibit increased aggression toward their reflection when water temperature rises from 78°F to 84°F. Mice exhibit impaired maze navigation and reduced object memory retention following heat exposure, and male guppies demonstrate difficulty navigating mazes after spending several days in 90°F water.