Pterocles

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Pterocles senegallus hm.jpg

| image_caption = Spotted sandgrouse

| taxon = Pterocles

| authority = Temminck, 1815

| type_species = Tetrao alchata (pin-tailed sandgrouse)

| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

}}

Pterocles is a genus of near passerine birds in the sandgrouse family. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in Syrrhaptes.

These sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails. Their legs are feathered down to the toes, but unlike species of the genus Syrrhaptes the toes are not feathered.

Pterocles species have a fast direct flight, and flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk.

Two to three eggs are laid directly on the ground. They are buff or greenish with cryptic markings. All species are resident.

Taxonomy

The genus Pterocles was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck.{{ cite book | last=Temminck | first=Coenraad Jacob | author-link=Coenraad Jacob Temminck | year=1815 | title=Histoire Naturelle Générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacés | volume=3 | language=French | location=Amsterdam | publisher=J. C. Sepp et fils | pages=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43752451 238], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43752925 712] }} The type species was subsequently designated by the English zoologist George Robert Gray as the pin-tailed sandgrouse.{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1840 | title=A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus | location=London | publisher=R. and J.E. Taylor | page=62 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13668979 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1937 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=3 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=3 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14477718 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek {{lang|el|πτερόν}} pteron meaning "wing" with {{lang|el|-κλης}} -klēs meaning "notable" or "splendid".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=322 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n322/mode/1up }}

Species

The genus contains 14 extant species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2022 | title=Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/turacos/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=14 August 2022}}

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
class="wikitable"
120px	Pin-tailed sandgrouse	Pterocles alchata	North Africa and the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Kazakhstan, Spain, Portugal
120px	Namaqua sandgrouse	Pterocles namaqua	Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa
120px	Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse	Pterocles exustus	central and northern Africa, and southern Asia
120px	Spotted sandgrouse	Pterocles senegallus	Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger
120px	Black-bellied sandgrouse	Pterocles orientalis	Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel
120px	Crowned sandgrouse	Pterocles coronatus	North Africa and the Middle East.
120px	Yellow-throated sandgrouse	Pterocles gutturalis	Angola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
120px	Burchell's sandgrouse	Pterocles burchelli	Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa
120px	Madagascar sandgrouse	Pterocles personatus	Madagascar
120px	Black-faced sandgrouse	Pterocles decoratus	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
120px	Lichtenstein's sandgrouse	Pterocles lichtensteinii	Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
120px	Double-banded sandgrouse	Pterocles bicinctus	southern Africa.
120px	Painted sandgrouse	Pterocles indicus	Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
120px	Four-banded sandgrouse	Pterocles quadricinctus	Africa from Mauritania and Cameroon east to Sudan and Uganda

A fossil species, Pterocles bosporanus, is known from the early Pleistocene of Crimea.{{Cite journal |last=Zelenkov |first=N. V. |date=2023-08-01 |title=A New Species of Sandgrouse (Aves: Pteroclidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the Crimea |url=https://doi.org/10.1134/S0012496623700497 |journal=Doklady Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=511 |issue=1 |pages=264–266 |doi=10.1134/S0012496623700497 |pmid=37833584 |issn=1608-3105|url-access=subscription }}

References

External links

[https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/pitsan1/cur/introduction Sandgrouse videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

Category:Bird genera