SANDGROUSE IN GENERAL 
Sandgrouse are a unique group of birds belonging to the order 
Columbiformes. The original common name "sand grous" (which was used 
because the birds have feathered legs) is actually a misnomer since 
these birds are not grouse, but are closely related to pigeons and 
doves. To further separate them from grouse in the mind of the reader, 
the common name here adopted is sandgrouse. Sandgrouse are short 
legged, long winged, and like many pigeons and doves, are capable of 
powerful flight over long distances. They have 11 primaries as con- 
trasted with 10 for the Galliformes. Two to three eggs are laid, and 
the young, unlike pigeons, are precocious. It is suspected that with 
many species both sexes incubate and help rear the young. The sexes 
are easily differentiated by the color of the plumage. 
Sandgrouse are birds of desert and steppe countries. Some species 
will fly great distances to water, Similarly, these birds have the 
ability to move immense distances for the purpose of obtaining food or 
to reach breeding or wintering grounds. This is well illustrated by 
the large pin-tailed sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata caudacutus) about 
which Baker (3) reports, "When ripe the seeds of a plant, Polygonum 
argyrocoleum, which grows over an immense area in the Tigris and 
Euphrates Valleys, forms the sole food of the Sand Grouse and the birds 
resort to these places in myriads for breeding purposes, often coming 
great distances, Their young reared and the seeding of the Polygonum 
finished, the birds move elsewhere, again clear the ground of the 
special foods available andi then once more move off. During heavy 
rains and extreme droughts similar movements occur," 
Peters (31) states that there are 2 species of sandgrouse in the 
genus Syrrhaptes (which have feathered legs and toes) and 14 species 
with 29 subspecies, in the genus Pterocles (which have feathered legs 
only). Sandgrouse are distributed from Portugal, Spain, and southern 
France southwards through Africa and eastwards through Asia Minor, 
southern Russia, Tibet, Afghanistan, West Pakistan, and India. 
Taxonomy and Distribution 
Peters (31) classifies the sandgrouse as shown below. Mackworth- 
Praed and Grant (22) have put several of the sandgrouse into a third 
genus Eremialector. To provide continuity with previous reports, 
Peter's classification is followed here. 
