NEW DELHI — Blame it on 48C temperature that has hit parts of northern India, the country’s national bird Peacock and many of our feathered friends are dying in mass. The extreme hot and blistering climate has taken a heavy toll on Indian birds, especially peafowl, that are dropping dead this summer.

More than 120 peacocks have died in Tughlakabad Fort and Surajkund areas here because of the intense heat and severe water shortage. Some 400 peacocks have died of intense heat conditions in Morena area of Madhya Pradesh; about 200 have died in Haryana and Punjab alone.

Their drying carcasses are strewn all over the affected region where these birds are found in large numbers. Not all pheasants are as lucky as their brethrens living in prime minister’s residence or at Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhawan. There they have been provided with great care — air cooled shelters fitted with water atomiser.

Those living in extreme summer conditions, have faced one of the worst natural devastations. It’s not only peafowl that is on the verge of extinction, various species of birds like munias, starlings, francolins, parakeets etc. that once were familiar to Indian homes, trees and gardens, suddenly seem to have disappeared into oblivion.

Many associate our childhood with little sparrows chirping and playing on verandah. None of them are seen any longer. Also those beautiful hill mynas that hopped on tree branches, are nowhere to be seen. Hundreds of parrots that lived in the premises of Qutub Minar here are not seen now. Many of them are dead, say ornithologists.

The others who are bearing the heat, would also die if blistering summer temperature does not abate. Some suggest alarm bells had been ringing for long. With birds being valuable environmental indicators, their disappearance point towards how vulnerable the earth has become to global warming or rising temperatures all over, besides other causes.

Director (conservation) Wildlife Trust of India Dr Rahul Kaul points out: “Birds are dying of extreme summer heat, and it is very natural for them to die in such an adverse climatic condition. The rising summer temperature surely exemplify how we have played havoc with the environment.”

However, Dr Kaul says that there are many reasons like pesticide use, trade, hunting, natural reasons like climatic or predation for the higher bird mortality rate in India. Most of the migrant breeders and song birds have suffered extensive devastation owing to global warming, he says. Pheasants, waterfowl, pigeons, doves, barbets, partridges, hornbills are dying because of hunting.

Birds, including peacocks, generally struggle against a deadly mixture of threats like habitat loss, human disasters and disease, but extreme temperature really add to their woes. Some 649 species of birds are in imminent danger of disappearing forever. Plus the impact of human activity on natural surroundings are the cause for endangerment of bird species.

While the mass-extinction of birds could be attributed to various reasons, some experts suggest that of global warming has to a large extent contributed to their disappearance. It is said that the very food cycle of birds has changed, as birds are not able to feed themselves. Insects, larvae etc. are not getting conditioned due to climatic changes.
Dr Kaul says: “There has been a lot of land use changes in recent times. Birds, who we were extremely familiar to us in early days, have disappeared. Farm birds are feeding on seeds that are laced with pesticide. They eat them and no longer see the day. All this can be prevented of course. We may be killing the birds, not high temperature.”

Khaleej Times Online - Extreme hot weather taking its toll on birds

I think that we too will have to deal with heat this coming summer and it's going to be a bad one.

I watch the heat down here in the summer.
I only put my Fids out for a short time in the morning and then again in the evening.
I putt my outdoor mister on off and on durring the day for the wild birds to play in.