Pterocles senegallus - Spotted Sandgrouse
Feather characters. Barbule length varies from medium until long (1.6-2.0 mm). Barbules are filamentous with even and translucent pigmentation throughout the barbules. Borders between cells are visible, but hardly swollen and thus too small to qualify as nodes. These nodal structures (10-14 per mm) have about the same size along the entire length of the barbules, only slightly decreasing towards the tip. Villi are absent and internodes are straight. Minute prongs may be present along the entire length of barbules, on both sides of the pennulum. These prongs are unequally distributed, and many nodal structures without prongs may be found.
Field characters. Size 30-35 cm. Weight: male 272 g, female 255 g (Dunning, 1993). Sandgrouse with narrow, relatively long wings and pointed tail. Male with head, breast and nape grey, crown inconspicuously pink-brown; throat yellow-orange; rest of upper- and underparts largely sandy-olive brown, with dark markings on wing, and narrow black belly patch on unspotted underparts. Ground colour of female paler; crown streaked; upperparts and chest spotted. Belly patch of both sexes best visible in flight; upperparts largely sandy, with narrow black trailing edge to wing; underwing pale with broad blackish trailing edge; long tail streamers only visible at close range. Juvenile like female but with white throat and chin, and lacking tail streamers. Mostly seen in early morning, when flocks fly to drinking place.
Voice. Flight call a bubbling 'quitoo quitoo'.
Distribution. Widespread resident of N Africa and Middle East; nomadic during dry season. Map: see MapIt.
Habitat. Hot and arid sandy or stony desert; also in sparsely vegetated desert steppe. In winter sometimes in cultivations. Nests on the ground.
Food. Mainly seeds.