#sandgrouse

[herpsandbirds]

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata), family Pteroclidae, order Pterocliformes, Israel

photograph by Moshe Ben Artzi

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

There are plenty of great dads in the world, but Namaqua sandgrouse dads really know how to go the distance. Every day, males fly up to 20 km (12 mi) from their nest to a watering hole and back to deliver water to their chicks. But they don't carry the water in their beaks; instead, their belly feathers are specially designed to retain up to 25 ml (0.8 oz) of water. Unfortunately, this isn't nearly enough to keep his thirsty chicks satisfied, so dad often spends the whole day flying back and forth from the watering hole.

(Image: A Namaqua sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua) by Peter Chadwick)

[melodeelaine]

Pintailed Sandgrouse - Across the Middle East

[birdstudies]

March 5, 2026 - Crowned Sandgrouse (Pterocles coronatus) Found in a spotty range across North Africa and West Asia east to parts of southern Pakistan, these sandgrouse live in desert and semi-desert habitats. They eat mostly seeds, as well as some shoots, and gather at waterholes to drink in the morning and sometimes evening. They nest on the ground in scrapes in pebbles or sand, sometimes ringed by small stones. Females lay clutches of three or occasionally two eggs. The parents, especially the males, bring water to the chicks by soaking it up in the downy feathers of their chests and transporting it over long distances.

[todaysbird]

pallas’s sandgrouse is a medium-to-large member of the sandgrouse family with a range within eurasia. while this bird has a slender, pigeon-like head and neck, they have a more compact and heavyweight body. the sexes are similar, but females are duller in coloration and lack the gray breast band found on the male. these birds almost entirely feed off of dry seeds, giving them a need for a high water intake; male parents bring water to their chicks by soaking their chest feathers in puddles. this species’ feet are unique, with an appearance more like a paw than an avian foot; the first three toes are fused together, and the species forgoes a back toe entirely.

[snototter]

A group of Pallas's sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) flock by the water in Mongolia

by Tselmeg Tumendelger

[birdblues]

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

[heracliteanfire]

Gouache painting on mica of a Painted Sandgrouse, Pterocles indicus. Painted for the European market in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India, c 1850.

via British Museum, used under a CC by-nc-sa license.