Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse

About the Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse

Lichtenstein's sandgrouse (Pterocles lichtensteinii) is a species of sandgrouse in the family Pteroclidae. It is named after the German naturalist Martin Lichtenstein. A small, closely barred bird of stony deserts and arid hills, it ranges across northern and eastern Africa, the Middle East and south-western Asia to Pakistan. It is nomadic and mostly nocturnal, drinking before dawn and after dusk.

Lichtenstein's sandgrouse is a small, stocky sandgrouse about 25 cm (9.8 in) long and weighing 175–250 g (6.2–8.8 oz). It lacks the elongated central tail feathers of some other sandgrouse, and both sexes are closely barred blackish on a buff ground, above and below.

Lichtenstein's sandgrouse has a very large range, covering some 18,200,000 square kilometres (7,000,000 sq mi) across Africa and south-western Asia. It is found from near the equator in Kenya north and east through the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Africa it occurs in Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda; in Asia it occurs in Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine... Wikipedia →