Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
Pterocles alchata
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Birds
The pin-tailed sandgrouse is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family. It has a small, pigeon-like head and neck and a sturdy, compact body. It has long pointed wings, which are white underneath, a long tail and a fast direct flight. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn. The call is a loud kattar-kattar. This gregarious species breeds on dry open treeless plains and similar habitats. Its nest is a ground scrape into which two or three cream-coloured eggs with cryptic markings are laid. Both sexes incubate the eggs.
Classification
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Pterocliformes
- Family
- Pteroclidae
- Genus
- Pterocles