Black-faced Sandgrouse

Pterocles decoratus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernSeedsShrublandScrapeMedium · 181 g

ID tip

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'.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Black-faced Sandgrouse

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Black-faced Sandgrouse

Regular range

The map shades 4 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

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.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Black-faced Sandgrouse vs Burchell's Sandgrouse · Black-faced Sandgrouse vs Spotted Sandgrouse · Black-faced Sandgrouse vs Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse

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