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Birds such as great skuas Catharacta skua adapted for successful breeding at high latitudes may experience problems of heat dissipation in mild climates. Great skuas spend time bathing at freshwater sites close to breeding territories and here, we examine impacts of heat stress on bathing, foraging and nest attendance of adults during three breeding seasons with marked variation in the availability of prey (1‐group sandeels Ammodytes marinus). Adults exhibited diurnal variation in bathing activity that matched heat‐stress conditions. Moreover more birds bathed on days of higher average heat stress, suggesting that bathing plays a role in thermoregulation. Bathing numbers were lower in years of poor food availability, when adult attendance at territories was low, probably because lower attendance reduced the opportunity for parents to bathe without leaving chicks unattended. Chicks are normally guarded by …