Wet Starling.

I know from the time I went on a holiday flying kites (also flew various species of hawks and falcons) that birds are quite waterproof provided that they sit still, the water just runs off their feathers in much the same way as it runs off the overlapping slates of a roof. However, as soon as they fly, the principle breaks down and they quickly become saturated. I have vivid memories of flying a Harris hawk in the rain and then having to hold it in front of the car fan heater on the way back to the centre to dry out its feathers and help it recover from hypothermia.
 
Small birds die of starvation very quickly to the extent that a blue tit can struggle to get through a cold winter night; a starling, being that much bigger, is considerably less vulnerable but still there was a crowd of them feeding voraciously at our feeders today and, because this particular feeder is designed for smaller birds, they have to flap vigorously to maintain their hold on the little perch while they remove suet pellets. With wall-to-wall torrential rain today, they must have been very grateful for any easy food source; do I hope so, it costs us a fortune to maintain a regular supply.