Pterocles

Pterocles is a genus of near passerine birds in the sandgrouse family. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in Syrrhaptes

Pterocles
Spotted Sandgrouse
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pterocliformes
Family: Pteroclidae
Genus: Pterocles
Temminck, 1815
Species

See text

These sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails. Their legs are feathered down to the toes, but unlike Syrrhaptes the toes are not feathered.

Pterocles sandgrouse have a fast direct flight, and flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk.

Two to three eggs are laid directly on the ground. They are buff or greenish with cryptic markings. All species are resident.

Species in taxonomic order
ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Pin-tailed sandgrouse Pterocles alchata North Africa and the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Kazakhstan, Spain, Portugal
Namaqua sandgrousePterocles namaquaAngola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa
Chestnut-bellied sandgrousePterocles exustuscentral and northern Africa, and southern Asia
Spotted sandgrousePterocles senegallus Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger
Black-bellied sandgrousePterocles orientalis Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel
Crowned sandgrousePterocles coronatus North Africa and the Middle East.
Yellow-throated sandgrousePterocles gutturalis Angola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Burchell's sandgrousePterocles burchelli Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa
Madagascan sandgrousePterocles personatus Madagascar
Black-faced sandgrousePterocles decoratus Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Lichtenstein's sandgrousePterocles lichtensteinii Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Double-banded sandgrousePterocles bicinctus southern Africa.
Painted sandgrousePterocles indicus Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Four-banded sandgrousePterocles quadricinctus Africa from Mauritania and Cameroon east to Sudan and Uganda
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