desert vultures

The power of flight gives birds two major advantages over many other animals in the struggle for survival in the desert. The first of these is fairly obvious - flight allows birds to cover great distances in the search for food and water. The second advantage is that because flight generates a lot of heat, birds are naturally adapted to high body temperatures. Feathers also play their part in insulating birds from the heat of the sun. Two major groups of birds inhabit the Sahara - those that spend their whole lives there, and those that migrate from other parts of the world during winter.

Because there are very few trees and bushes in the desert, any birds which live there must be adapted to a life on the ground. Desert birds tend to be smaller than those that live in other regions of the world. Many desert birds live on a diet of insects, whilst others survive on seeds and sometimes small mammals.

photo courtesy of WWF-UK

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