A fairly small sandgrouse which appears rather uniformly coloured from a distance except for darker flight feathers, the wholly dark flight feathers being the best feature to identify crowned sandgrouse from the similar spotted sandgrouse. The dark flight feathers contrast with the sandy upper wing coverts and the creamy underwing coverts. The adult male has a black mask and lacks any grey tones on the neck and breast. The females and immatures lack the black mask and differ from spotted sandgrouse in having dark vermiculations, rather than spots, across the breast and all of the belly and not confined to the breast and upper belly as in spotted sandgrouse. They are 27–29 cm long and have a wingspan of 52–63 cm.[3]
Distributionedit
The crowned sandgrouse occurs in North Africa and south Asia and is found from Mauritania in the west through the Middle East to Pakistan.[1]
Habitatedit
The crowned sandgrouse is a bird of deserts, preferring stony deserts rather than sandy ones.[4] In North Africa breeds among dark red sandstone which matches its plumage colour. Avoids areas with too much vegetation.[5]
Habitsedit
The crowned sandgrouse is rather nomadic in the dry season and is recorded away from areas where breeding is known. For example, it is scarce in Libya north of 32°N but is frequent at Wadi Caam in the dry season of June to September. It is gregarious outside the breeding season, especially when visiting water resources which it flies to in early and mid morning and again towards sunset. It mainly feeds on hard seeds but also feeds on shoots of grass and other plants.[5]
The nest is a shallow depression on open ground and has no lining, although there may be a circle of stomes around the nest as the birds move any small stomes within the depression to the rim when they start laying. Clutch is 2-3 eggs which are incubated for just over three weeks and the chicks fledge in 24–28 days.[5]
Pterocles coronatus coronatus M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823: Sahara Desert from southern Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania east to north central Sudan and the Red Sea coast.
Pterocles coronatus vastitas R. Meinertzhagen, 1928 – Sinai and neighbouring areas of Israel and Jordan.
Pterocles coronatus saturatus Kinnear, 1927 –the hilly country of interior Oman.
Pterocles coronatus atratus E. J. O. Hartert, 1902 – Southern Arabia (except interior Oman) and southern Iran east to south-western Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
^ abBirdLife International (2016). "Pterocles coronatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22693005A93378195. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693005A93378195.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
^ ab"Pterocles coronatus Lichtenstein, 1823". Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (https://www.itis.gov). Retrieved 2016-11-27.
^Mark Beaman; Steve Madge (1998). The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic. Christopher Helm. p. 470. ISBN0-7136-3960-1.
^ abcDe Juana, Eduardo; Kirwan, Guy M. (2020). Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David; De Juana, Eduardo (eds.). "Crowned Sandgrouse (Pterocles coronatus)". HBW Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.crosan1.01. S2CID 226398826. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
^ abcSnow, D.W.; Perrins, C.M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic Concise Edition Volume 1 Non-Passerines. Oxford University Press. pp. 828–829. ISBN0-19-850187-0.
External linksedit
Recordings of crowned sandgrouse at Xeno-Canto
January 01, 1970
crowned, sandgrouse, crowned, sandgrouse, pterocles, coronatus, species, bird, sandgrouse, family, pteroclidae, from, north, africa, middle, east, conservation, status, least, concern, iucn, scientific, classification, domain, eukaryota, kingdom, animalia, phy. The crowned sandgrouse Pterocles coronatus is a species of bird in the sandgrouse family the Pteroclidae from North Africa and the Middle East Crowned sandgrouse Conservation status Least Concern IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Pterocliformes Family Pteroclidae Genus Pterocles Species P coronatus Binomial name Pterocles coronatusLichtenstein MHC 1823 2 World distribution Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution 3 Habitat 4 Habits 5 Taxonomy 6 References 7 External linksDescription editA fairly small sandgrouse which appears rather uniformly coloured from a distance except for darker flight feathers the wholly dark flight feathers being the best feature to identify crowned sandgrouse from the similar spotted sandgrouse The dark flight feathers contrast with the sandy upper wing coverts and the creamy underwing coverts The adult male has a black mask and lacks any grey tones on the neck and breast The females and immatures lack the black mask and differ from spotted sandgrouse in having dark vermiculations rather than spots across the breast and all of the belly and not confined to the breast and upper belly as in spotted sandgrouse They are 27 29 cm long and have a wingspan of 52 63 cm 3 Distribution editThe crowned sandgrouse occurs in North Africa and south Asia and is found from Mauritania in the west through the Middle East to Pakistan 1 Habitat editThe crowned sandgrouse is a bird of deserts preferring stony deserts rather than sandy ones 4 In North Africa breeds among dark red sandstone which matches its plumage colour Avoids areas with too much vegetation 5 Habits editThe crowned sandgrouse is rather nomadic in the dry season and is recorded away from areas where breeding is known For example it is scarce in Libya north of 32 N but is frequent at Wadi Caam in the dry season of June to September It is gregarious outside the breeding season especially when visiting water resources which it flies to in early and mid morning and again towards sunset It mainly feeds on hard seeds but also feeds on shoots of grass and other plants 5 The nest is a shallow depression on open ground and has no lining although there may be a circle of stomes around the nest as the birds move any small stomes within the depression to the rim when they start laying Clutch is 2 3 eggs which are incubated for just over three weeks and the chicks fledge in 24 28 days 5 Taxonomy editPreviously the crowned sandgrouse was included in genus Eremialector and recent studies suggest that it is part of a clade that also includes the yellow throated sandgrouse P gutturalis and the Madagascar sandgrouse P personatus and these may form a group along with the two Syrrhaptes species black bellied sandgrouse P orientalis Namaqua sandgrouse P namaqua and chestnut bellied sandgrouse P exustus and possibly including also P alchata and P burchelli further study is required 4 Five subspecies are currently recognised 2 4 Pterocles coronatus coronatus M H C Lichtenstein 1823 Sahara Desert from southern Morocco Western Sahara and Mauritania east to north central Sudan and the Red Sea coast Pterocles coronatus vastitas R Meinertzhagen 1928 Sinai and neighbouring areas of Israel and Jordan Pterocles coronatus saturatus Kinnear 1927 the hilly country of interior Oman Pterocles coronatus atratus E J O Hartert 1902 Southern Arabia except interior Oman and southern Iran east to south western Afghanistan and Baluchistan Pterocles coronatus ladas Koelz 1954 Sind nbsp Crowned sandgrouseReferences edit a b BirdLife International 2016 Pterocles coronatus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 e T22693005A93378195 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2016 3 RLTS T22693005A93378195 en Retrieved 13 November 2021 a b Pterocles coronatus Lichtenstein 1823 Integrated Taxonomic Information System ITIS https www itis gov Retrieved 2016 11 27 Mark Beaman Steve Madge 1998 The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic Christopher Helm p 470 ISBN 0 7136 3960 1 a b c De Juana Eduardo Kirwan Guy M 2020 Del Hoyo Josep Elliott Andrew Sargatal Jordi Christie David De Juana Eduardo eds Crowned Sandgrouse Pterocles coronatus HBW Alive Lynx Edicions doi 10 2173 bow crosan1 01 S2CID 226398826 Retrieved 2016 11 27 a b c Snow D W Perrins C M 1998 The Birds of the Western Palearctic Concise Edition Volume 1 Non Passerines Oxford University Press pp 828 829 ISBN 0 19 850187 0 External links editRecordings of crowned sandgrouse at Xeno Canto Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Crowned sandgrouse amp oldid 1141438185, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
