Pterocles is a genus of birds in the sandgrouse family Pteroclidae. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in Syrrhaptes.
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 species of the genus Syrrhaptes the toes are not feathered.
Pterocles species 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.
Taxonomy The genus Pterocles was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The type species was subsequently designated by the English zoologist George Robert Gray as the pin-tailed sandgrouse. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "wing" with -klēs meaning "notable" or "splendid".
Species The genus contains 14 extant species: Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Pin-tailed sandgrouse Pterocles alchataNorth Africa and the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Kazakhstan, Spain, Portugal Namaqua sandgrouse Pterocles namaquaAngola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles exustus central and northern Africa, and southern Asia Spotted sandgrouse Pterocles senegallusMorocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger Black-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalisIberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel Crowned sandgrouse Pterocles coronatusNorth Africa and the Middle East. Yellow-throated sandgrouse Pterocles gutturalisAngola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Burchell's sandgrouse Pterocles burchelli Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa Madagascar sandgrouse Pterocles personatusMadagascar Black-faced sandgrouse Pterocles decoratusEthiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Lichtenstein's sandgrouse Pterocles 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 sandgrouse Pterocles bicinctus southern Africa. Painted sandgrouse Pterocles indicusBangladesh, India and Pakistan. Four-banded sandgrouse Pterocles quadricinctus Africa from Mauritania and Cameroon east to Sudan and Uganda A fossil species, Pterocles bosporanus, is known from the early Pleistocene of Crimea.
References
External links Sandgrouse videos on the Internet Bird Collection