Black-faced Sandgrouse
Pterocles decoratus
The Black-faced Sandgrouse (Pterocles decoratus) is a rare sandgrouse found in 4 countries, weighing about 181 g. The black-faced sandgrouse is a species of ground-dwelling bird in the Pteroclidae family.
About the Black-faced Sandgrouse
The black-faced sandgrouse is a species of ground-dwelling bird in the Pteroclidae family. It is a mainly sedentary bird found in East Africa, ranging from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is a medium-sized bird which is well-adapted and well-camouflaged to life in arid environments. It is a dove-like bird due to its physical resemblance, particularly its small head, short legs, and pointed wings. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The black-faced sandgrouse is a medium-sized bird approximately 28 cm (11 in) long and weighing between 140 and 210 g (4.9 and 7.4 oz). Overall, it has a small and compact body, with a short tail, pointed wings, as well as short and feathered legs. The wing tips are black when in flight. As its name suggests, the male is easily recognizable with black face markings extending from the forehead down to the throat. The male is also characterized by a black and a white eyebrow stripe above the eye, a pinkish-orange bill, and a yellow eye-ring contrasting against its black facial colour. Voice: The flight call is similar to a dove's and is a rhythmic, three-note sound described as 'what-wa-wha'. During take-off and flight, it has a short, high, whistling note 'wheeeuw' about 0.4 seconds long, within a 2–4 kHz range or a low-pitch 'chut-to-la'. Another vocalization is in a series of triple-noted whistling chucking 'chuker-chuker-chuker'.
Where it lives
When to see it
The Black-faced Sandgrouse can be seen all year round, with peak activity in November. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Black-faced Sandgrouse?
- The black-faced sandgrouse is a medium-sized bird approximately 28 cm (11 in) long and weighing between 140 and 210 g (4.9 and 7.4 oz). Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Black-faced Sandgrouse?
- The Black-faced Sandgrouse is a medium sized bird weighing about 181 g.
- Where can you see a Black-faced Sandgrouse?
- The Black-faced Sandgrouse occurs in 4 countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Somalia.
- What birds look similar to a Black-faced Sandgrouse?
- The Black-faced Sandgrouse is most easily confused with the Burchell's Sandgrouse, the Spotted Sandgrouse and the Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse.
- Is the Black-faced Sandgrouse endangered?
- The Black-faced Sandgrouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Black-faced Sandgrouse for real
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