Desert Birds: How Do Birds Drink Water? Part 1

Editor — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:09:24 +0000

Like all animals, birds need water in order to survive. They need even more water than mammals do, to help fuel their energetic flight. So how do birds, especially ones that live in deserts, stay hydrated?

Desert birds start by avoiding the hottest times day, when they’d lose water through panting. Desert birds also visit rivers, lakes, backyard birdbaths, or other watering holes whenever possible. If you are bird watching in the desert, such water sources are great places to see concentrated numbers of thirsty birds.

Some bird species, however, live far from such water sources. They manage to get most of their water from water-rich foods like fruit, nectar, or insects. Birds have very efficient kidneys that help them save this water in their bodies.

What about desert sparrows and finches, which eat only dry seeds? Their bodies are so good at processing the seeds’ tiny percentage of water that these birds can go through their whole lives never drinking a drop.

When desert birds do need to drink, they may commute long distances to find water. Sand-grouse, pigeon-sized African birds, fly up to 30km, twice a day, to reach water. They not only drink the water, they also absorb it into their specialized, sponge-like belly feathers. They bring this stored water back to their thirsty chicks, sitting in nests up to 30km away from the lake.

How do birds drink?

Editor — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:15:11 +0000

Birds need water to survive. This includes ocean birds that are flying far out over the ocean, like gulls, petrels, and albatross. They may be far from shore for months or even years at a time, never seeing lakes or other sources of fresh water. How do they survive?

Most seabirds simply drink the ocean’s saltwater. They could not do this without the help of their special glands called Salt Glands. The salt gland is an area of their nostrils that filters extra salt from the bloodstream. This salt is then sneezed out, or it dribbles out from the birds’ nostrils.

And there is plenty of salt to filter out- seawater is 3% salt, but birds need their bodies to be 1% salt in order to survive. These salt glands are constantly at work.

In some birds species like albatross and petrels, these glands look like big tubes sitting on top of the bill. This is why these ocean birds are sometimes called “tubenoses”.

Many kinds of birds have this gland, but it is only fully developed in seabirds. Interestingly, when scientists have fed young freshwater ducks large amounts of saltwater, these birds develop larger, more functioning salt glands as they grow into adults.

Birds.com: Online Birds Guide with Facts, Articles, Videos, and Photos » Water

Desert Birds: How Do Birds Drink Water? Part 1

How do birds drink?