Animalia Life
Pterocles orientalis
TAXONOMY
Tetrao orientalis Linnaeus, 1758, “In Oriente” = Anatolia. Two
subspecies generally recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Imperial sandgrouse, large sandgrouse, oriental sandgrouse;
French: Ganga unibande; German: Sandflughuhn;
Spanish: Ganga Ortega.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
About 15 in (39 cm); female 10.6–16.4 oz (300–465 g), male
14.1–19.4 oz (400–550 g). Largest sandgrouse; robustly built,
without elongated, central tail feathers. Male rust-colored buff
above, mottled grayish on back and wings; throat a bright rusty
color with triangular black patch; breast gray, bordered with
narrow, black band and broad, pinkish band; belly black. Female
similar to male but less strongly tinged rust coloring;
lacks rust coloring and black on throat; breast spotted black;
narrow black collar on throat and below breast. Underwing
white in both sexes.
DISTRIBUTION
North Africa from Canary Islands and Morocco to Libya; Iberian
Peninsula; discontinuously from Turkey to southwestern
Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwestern India.
HABITAT
Grassy steppe and semi-desert with scattered clumps of grass
and herbs.
BEHAVIOR
Gregarious except when breeding; flocks may number thousands
at drinking sites but usually not more than about 30
birds on feeding grounds. Usually drinks a couple of hours after
sunrise. Normally lands a small distance from water’s edge
before running down to drink, then takes off directly from water’s
edge and returns to feeding areas.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Mostly seeds, especially legumes. May also eat termites. Up to
30,000 seeds taken from single crop.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Solitary nester, mostly from March to September. Nest is
scrape on ground, often under a shrub. Three well camouflaged
eggs incubated by female during day and by male at
night for about 23–28 days; male provides young with water
from soaked belly feathers.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Abundant over most of range but may be increasingly scarce in
Spain and Portugal. Becoming increasingly scarce on
Fuerteventura in the Canaries.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Highly prized by sportsmen.
Photo Gallery of - Black-bellied sandgrouse
