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![]() This all changed in 1967 when G. L. Maclean proposed a relationship between sandgrouse and shorebirds, based primarily on field observations. The fact they do not drink like pigeons, they don't give cooing sounds, they don't build stick nests, that their eggs were pigmented (not white) and that the young can immediately fend for themselves are all reasons they aren't that close to pigeons. More recently, DNA and other biochemical evidence confirms a closer relationship to waders in the Charadriformes. But the birds are still quite unusual, and de Juana (1997) in the Handbook of the Birds of the World series places them in their own order -- the Pterocliformes -- between the waders and the pigeons. |
![]() ![]() Whatever their relationships, all are closely related to each other and all but two are considered to be within a single genus Pterocles. Two African examples are the Double-banded Sandgrouse of south Africa (above left) and the Black-faced Sandgrouse of east Africa (above right; a fine shot by Dale & Marian Zimmerman as my own photos of this bird don't come close to matching theirs). |
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![]() It is a coincidence that I've photographed all six sandgrouse that I've seen so far, but all are members of the genus Pterocles. There are two species in the genus Syrrhaptes that live from the Tibetan plateau to Mongolia. One of them, the Pallas's Sandgrouse S. paradoxus, stages irregular irruptions that spin off vagrants far from these remote steppes. Irruptions in 1863, 1888, and 1908 sent some birds all the way to western Europe! |
Photos: The Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteinii was photographed in Samburu Nat'l Park, northern Kenya, on 15 Nov 1981. The pair of flying Madagascar Sandgrouse P. personatus was were near Berenty, Madagascar, on 18 Nov 1992. The Double-banded Sandgrouse P. bicinctus was crossing a road in Kruger Nat'l Park, South Africa, on 31 July 1996. Dale & Marian Zimmerman photographed the Black-faced Sandgrouse P. decoratus in Samburu Nat'l Park, Kenya, in July 1979. Both photos of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse P. exustus were taken in Amboselli Nat'l Park, Kenya, in Nov 1992 All photos © 2000 Don Roberson except the one attributed to Dale & Marian Zimmerman who hold that copyright (used with permission); all rights reserved.
Bibliographic note
There is no "family book" per se, but a fine introduction to this family, with lots of spectacular photos, is in de Juana (1997).
Other literature cited:
de Juana, E. 1997. Family Pteroclidae (Sandgrouse), pp. 30-59 in del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & J. Sargatal, eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.TOP