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Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

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Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#81

Post by PedroBatista »

brnt wrote: post #47
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #25

This is anecdata. I am also not a bird. Inspired by Wim Hof, I've started doing short barefoot snow walks. Within days, even between multiple walks on the same day, my feet became more cold-tolerant. They now recover from the cold faster, stay warm in the snow longer, and when I'm indoors, my feet are no longer cold without socks. My feet used to be cold to the touch and feel cold subjectively without socks.

I used to never be cold. Could sit in open below 0C air after a shower without cooling down. I never really wore thick sweaters, where some would insist in them. Then I moved to a Mediterranean climate. When I go back now, I find I've become a wuss. Can't handle cold at all anymore.

Don’t know if basing your identity on reaction to weather is a good strategy, but your body adapts. And that’s the reason you don’t die during a Mediterranean summer.

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#83

Post by m463 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #71
m463 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wool socks are amazing. Warm and more importantly dry. In a similar way down comforters are wonderful (get the right weight).

Don't you find wool not stretching is a real problem? I struggle to get well-fitting wool socks that I can also get around my ankle, as they have no stretch. Did you know people used to use sock suspenders to keep their saggy wool socks up before we started to use synthetic fibres for socks?

I think my wool socks have a little synthetic fiber to help with that.

I tried less expensive wool socks, like from costco, and they were too warm and moist.

Then I tried darn tough wool socks and they are always warm and dry - even in summer.

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#84

Post by alien_ »

pfdietz wrote: post #70

Warm bloodedness (endothermy) would not be possible without countercurrent exchange in nasal passages. We have intricate bones there that capture heat and humidity in exhaled gas, then transfer it back to incoming air on the next breath. Without this the energy cost would be prohibitive. Structures like these in fossils are used as markers of the evolution of endothermy in ancestors of mammals and birds.

I'm not a biologist, but shouldn't this only matter in cold climate?

If the climate is warm enough the animals actually would need to have ways to actively cool down, like through sweating. Would capturing heat from their expiration still be needed?

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#85

Post by aembleton »

owlmirror wrote: post #67
globular-toast wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acclimatisation is real. I've noticed a trend in the UK over the past 20 years or so. Previously many people, like my parents, used the central heating minimally. It would come on in the morning just to take the edge off in the winter. But that was pretty much it. Nowadays people are trying to keep their house the exact same temperature year round. That means it's warm in the winter and (if you have ac) cold in the s…

The problem with that is that modern houses are very well insulated and unfortunately the insulation also traps moisture. If it gets too cold water condensates in the walls and mould can form. 17° in my experience is too cold and poses a risk.

> 17° in my experience is too cold and poses a risk.

Interesting, I have my thermostat set to 17° and the house is only 15 years old. What temperature should it be set to?

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#86

Post by aembleton »

Daho0n wrote: post #63
Retric wrote: post #2

This doesn’t explain why the interstitial fluids and cells themselves in a birds feet avoid freezing. Presumably, either their feet can simply be maintained at slightly above freezing or they use some form of antifreeze. Does anyone know?

I'm not sure if I can trust a random article on the internet but I do (mostly) trust my eyes. I have lots of small bird-feet-tracks outside my window where they have melted the snow. So clearly either they are not freezing because they are warm or they are covered in anti-freeze.

Or the pressure on the feet puts marks into the snow.

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#88

Post by ejolto »

chronogram wrote: post #79
74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but wool is so itchy and scratchy, isn't it?

Always use cotton as a first layer, because you can just put it in the laundry. Cleaning my woollen coat is more difficult than changing a cotton shirt underneath it. Also: most “wool” is polyester because it’s like 10 times cheaper.

No don't, you're going to be in for a bad time if you wear cotton as a base layer in -10C weather.

If you wear cotton socks and they get wet you might lose tour toes.

Most wool is definitely not polyester. At least not in Scandinavia.

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#89

Post by bloodorange »

chronogram wrote: post #79
74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but wool is so itchy and scratchy, isn't it?

Always use cotton as a first layer, because you can just put it in the laundry. Cleaning my woollen coat is more difficult than changing a cotton shirt underneath it. Also: most “wool” is polyester because it’s like 10 times cheaper.

Cotton remains damp after you sweat and eventually also stinks of sweat. It's not a good base layer in cold weather. A lot of merino wool products are easy to clean and maintain. I have never seen polyester called wool.

Re: Why Birds Don’t Get Cold Feet

#90

Post by Retric »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #38
Retric wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like they do keep their feet above freezing. Which is counter to the article’s: “Given a bird’s frantic little heart, blood simply rushes by way too fast to freeze.” As the blood never actually reaches freezing temperatures. “Warm blood moving toward the feet is cooled, which helps penguins keep their feet at temperatures just above freezing. ” http://blogs.britannica.com/2011/01/penguin-feet-avoiding-fr...

The only things I can readily find just reiterate what is in this article about heat exchange in the blood vessels: https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/why-birds-feet-dont-fr... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_feet_and_legs#Thermal_reg... One article I briefly looked at indicates there isn't as much study of avian ...something ....as mammalian. Maybe fattiness because I was wondering if they have any adipose tis…

I think you’re misunderstanding how essential and varied proteins are. In simple terms they are the nano machines which actively do stuff in cells. https://basicbiology.net/biology-101/molecules-of-life

Essentially, DNA encodes Proteins which manipulate everything else. Human cells for example have on the order of 1 to 3 billion proteins, remove water and over half of what’s left is proteins. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein

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