 They are vulnerable to attack while watering but with a large number of birds milling about, predators find it difficult to select a target bird and are likely to have been spotted before they can get close to the flock. The choice of a watering site is influenced by the topography of the nearby ground. The sandgrouse tend to avoid sites with cover for mammalian predators and their greatest risk is usually from predatory birds. Sandgrouse travel tens of miles to their traditional water holes and tend to disregard temporary water sources which may appear periodically. This probably has a survival value because a dried up water source in an arid region could result in dehydration and death. The Burchell's sandgrouse in the Kalahari Desert sometimes travels over 100 miles (160 km) daily to reach a water source. Not all species need to drink every day, and the Tibetan sandgrouse does not need to travel to drink because of the abundance of water from melting snowfields in its habitat.
