A gland at the base of a bird's tail, which produces the oil used in preening.
Example sentencesExamples
- This gap made it difficult for the bird to seal and waterproof that area with the oils from his preen gland.
- More work is needed on the function and distribution of preen glands in Rock Doves and across other species of birds.
- However, perhaps the plumage of birds with preen glands is more resilient to abrasion from preening.
- Our results provide the first rigorous evidence that the preen gland is important for plumage condition in birds other than waterfowl.
- Preening behaviors in birds-including bathing in water or dust and coating feathers with oils from preen glands are commonly thought to improve feather condition.