Editing Bird (section)

===Water and drinking===
Water is needed by many birds although their mode of excretion and lack of [[sweat gland]]s reduces the physiological demands.<ref>{{Cite book|year=2005|url=http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/287916626|isbn=90-367-2378-7 |last=Engel|first=Sophia Barbara|title=Racing the wind: Water economy and energy expenditure in avian endurance flight|publisher=University of Groningen|access-date=25 November 2008|archive-date=5 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405201429/http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/287916626}}</ref> Some desert birds can obtain their water needs entirely from moisture in their food. Some have other adaptations such as allowing their body temperature to rise, saving on moisture loss from evaporative cooling or panting.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tieleman |first1=B. Irene |last2=Williams |first2=Joseph B. |title=The Role of Hyperthermia in the Water Economy of Desert Birds |journal=Physiological and Biochemical Zoology |date=January 1999 |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=87–100 |doi=10.1086/316640 |pmid=9882607 |hdl= 11370/6edc6940-c2e8-4c96-832e-0b6982dd59c1 |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/62402849/The_Role_of_Hyperthermia_in_the_Water_Economy_of_Desert_Birds.pdf |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Seabirds can drink seawater and have [[salt gland]]s inside the head that eliminate excess salt out of the nostrils.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Salt-Secreting Gland of Marine Birds|last=Schmidt-Nielsen|first=Knut|journal=Circulation|date=1 May 1960|volume=21|pages=955–967|issue=5|doi=10.1161/01.CIR.21.5.955|pmid=14443123 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Most birds scoop water in their beaks and raise their head to let water run down the throat. Some species, especially of arid zones, belonging to the [[Columbidae|pigeon]], [[Estrildidae|finch]], [[Coliidae|mousebird]], [[Turnicidae|button-quail]] and [[Otididae|bustard]] families are capable of sucking up water without the need to tilt back their heads.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Sara L.|last=Hallager|title=Drinking methods in two species of bustards|journal=Wilson Bull.|volume=106|issue=4|year=1994|pages=763–764|hdl=10088/4338}}</ref> Some desert birds depend on water sources and [[sandgrouse]] are particularly well known for congregating daily at waterholes. Nesting sandgrouse and many plovers carry water to their young by wetting their belly feathers.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Water Transport by Sandgrouse|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_bioscience_1983-06_33_6/page/365|first=Gordon L.|last= MacLean|journal=BioScience|volume=33|issue= 6|date=1 June 1983|pages=365–369|doi=10.2307/1309104|jstor=1309104}}</ref> Some birds carry water for chicks at the nest in their crop or regurgitate it along with food. The pigeon family, flamingos and penguins have adaptations to produce a nutritive fluid called [[crop milk]] that they provide to their chicks.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Eraud C|author2=Dorie A|author3=Jacquet A|author4=Faivre B|year=2008|title= The crop milk: a potential new route for carotenoid-mediated parental effects| journal= Journal of Avian Biology| volume=39| pages= 247–251| doi= 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04053.x|issue=2|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00294461/file/Eraud2008.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00294461/file/Eraud2008.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>