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The Weekly Bird Word

12/09/25
 
This week’s Bird Word: 
Torpor
 

It’s cold out there! Birds don’t come inside when it’s cold, so they have other ways to survive winter temperatures. Torpor occurs when a resting bird lets its metabolism slow down and its body temperature drop below normal, something like short-term hibernation, which allows the bird to conserve energy. While it can make the bird more vulnerable to predators, torpor is a useful adaptation for surviving long, cold winter nights.

 
Chickadees often enter torpor during cold winter nights. Photo: Black-capped Chickadee, Ewa Golebiowska/Audubon Photography Awards

More in local bird and nature news: 

See you out there,
Northern Virginia Bird Alliance
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