Question: unable to build nests or care for their young

title: Bird nest
text: In warm climates , such as deserts and salt flats , heat rather than cold can kill the developing embryos . In such places , scrapes are shallower and tend to be lined with non-vegetative material ( including shells , feathers , sticks and soil ) , which allows convective cooling to occur as air moves over the eggs . Some species , such as the lesser nighthawk and the red - tailed tropicbird , help reduce the nest 's temperature by placing it in partial or full shade . Others , including some shorebirds , cast shade with their bodies as they stand over their eggs . Some shorebirds also soak their breast feathers with water and then sit on the eggs , providing moisture to enable evaporative cooling . Parent birds keep from overheating themselves by gular panting while they are incubating , frequently exchanging incubation duties , and standing in water when they are not incubating .