Black-bellied Sandgrouse
Pterocles orientalis
Subtly beautiful shuffling pigeonlike bird with a small head, striking black belly, and pale breast that contrasts with white underwings and black wingtips. Tail is relatively short. Males have a gray head and neck and an orangey throat while females are densely spotted all over. Both sexes have a broad creamy breast band bordered by an eye-catching black stripe. Call is a low, bubbling trill. Most often seen in the mornings when visiting water sources, sometimes in huge flocks, in deserts and semi-deserts with low vegetation.
Identification
The black-bellied sandgrouse is 33–39 cm (13–15 in) long and weighs 300–615 g (10.6–21.7 oz), it is likely the largest species in the sandgrouse family. The male has a grey head, neck, and breast. The underparts are black and the upperparts are golden-brown with darker markings. There is a thin black border around the lower breast and a chestnut throat patch. This sandgrouse has a small, pigeon-like head and neck, but a stocky compact body. It has long pointed wings and a fast direct flight. The white underwings and black belly make this species easy to identify while in flight. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn.<p>The female has browner, more finely marked upper parts, including the head and the breast. The underparts and breast band are identical to the male. The eastern race is paler and heavier than orientalis. Males have yellower upperparts and greyer underparts than the western form. Females are whiter below, but often inseparable. The call is a soft chowrrr rrrr-rrrr.
Taxonomy
The black-bellied sandgrouse was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other grouse-like birds in the genus Tetra and coined the binomial name Tetra orientalis. The black-bellied sandgrouse is now placed with 13 other species in the genus Pterocles that was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "wing" with -klēs meaning "notable" or "splendid".<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Pterocles orientalis
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Pterocliformes
- Family
- Pteroclidae
- Genus
- Pterocles
Range and habitat
This gregarious species breeds on dry open plains and similar habitats, but unlike the pin-tailed sandgrouse, it avoids areas completely lacking in vegetation. Its nest is a ground scrape into which three greenish eggs with cryptic markings are laid. Both sexes incubate, but only the male brings water.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner
Automolus infuscatus
Dark brown foliage-gleaner of mature rainforest understory. Warm dark brown body, with a clean whitish throat patch and reddish brown tail. Does not have prominent reddish brown in the wings like many other foliage-gleaners do; the clean whitish throat, plain face (without a strong eyebrow) and habit of foraging low are other good distinguishing features to tell it apart from other foliage-gleaners. Primarily found in the understory of mature rainforest. Listen for its song, a musical trill with stuttered introductory note, “ch-trrrrrrrr”, similar to that of Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner from denser secondary growth habitats, but slightly lower and with a more distinct introductory note.
White-fronted Falconet
Microhierax latifrons
Tiny, compact, black-and-white falcon. Black above, with a white chest and pale orangish belly. Male has a white crown and face; in female, the white is replaced by rusty orange. Restricted to northern Borneo, where mostly unmistakable; in narrow range of overlap with Black-thighed Falconet, look for White-fronted’s white or orange crown and paler underparts. Like other falconets, frequently encountered in pairs or groups. Perches up on bare branches in open forest, forest edge, and clearings.
Short-tailed Parrot
Graydidascalus brachyurus
Medium-sized, uniformly bright green parrot with a short tail. Note the indistinct black eye-line, the dusky bill, and the darker green flight feathers; other parrots have more colorful plumage and longer tails. Inhabits seasonally flooded forest along large rivers, occasionally venturing into adjacent urban areas.
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