Birds · Pteroclidiformes · Pteroclidae

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Pterocles orientalis

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The black-bellied sandgrouse is a compact steppe bird with fast, powerful flight, a black belly and a breast band that tells it apart from its relative the pin-tailed sandgrouse. It lives on open, treeless plains and feeds almost exclusively on dry seeds. It needs to drink daily and travels considerable distances to waterholes, always in flocks and at fixed times of day. In Spain it is in marked decline through agricultural intensification.

Weight

383 g – 428 g

Size

30 cm – 35 cm

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

DesertGrasslandHerbivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Desert Grassland

22countries 21parks1same family

Fun facts

The male carries water to the chicks by soaking his belly feathers, whose microstructure holds liquid like a sponge: he flies tens of kilometres back to the nest and the chicks drink straight from his plumage.
It comes to drink at fixed times and always at the same pools, behaviour so predictable that it made the bird an easy target for hunting and that today leaves it very vulnerable to the disappearance of steppe pools.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Cereal steppe, arid plains, fallow land and open treeless moorland
Birth weight: Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours
Size at birth: Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 22 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs