Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse

Pterocles lichtensteinii

Other Pics: Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse chicks

Other Names

  Close-barred Sandgrouse, Abyssinian Sandgrouse   Ganga de Lichtenstein   Wellenflughuhn   Ganga de Lichtenstein   Strimmig flyghöna   Gestreept Zandhoen    Grandule di Lichtenstein

World: Africa between 15°N and 20°N extending from the west coast to Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

Kenya: Mainly confined to the arid northern regions and almost entirely absent from the south of the country.

This is an uncommon species found in dry, sparsely bushed country. The photograph shows the male Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse which has a very distinctive black and white banded crown and forehead, a white bar behind the eye and a very noticeable yellow orbital ring. The female is less strikingly marked with narrow black and buff barring and some ill-defined whitish striping on the head. These can be particularly difficult birds to spot since they tend to favour baked, broken, stony ground which they blend into.