The pin-tailed sandgrouse is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family. It has a small, pigeon-like head and neck and a sturdy, compact body. It has long pointed wings, which are white underneath, a long tail and a fast direct flight. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn. The call is a loud kattar-kattar. This gregarious species breeds on dry open treeless plains and similar habitats. Its nest is a ground scrape into which two or three cream-coloured eggs with cryptic markings are laid. Both sexes incubate the eggs.
Region
Western Palearctic
Typical Environment
Occupies dry open country such as semi-desert, steppe, stony plains, and sparsely vegetated cereal fallows. Prefers treeless expanses with low shrubs and scattered grasses, avoiding dense cover. Regular access to surface water is essential, and birds commute considerable distances to drink at predictable waterholes. Nests on bare or lightly vegetated ground with excellent visibility. Frequently uses agricultural mosaics that mimic natural steppe where disturbance is low.
Altitude Range
0–2000 m
Climate Zone
Arid
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Pin-tailed sandgrouse make daily dawn and dusk flights to waterholes, often in tight, noisy flocks. Males have specialized belly feathers that can absorb and carry water to chicks at the nest. The species nests in a simple ground scrape and the well-camouflaged eggs blend with the substrate. It is highly gregarious outside the breeding season.
Pin-tailed sandgrouse
Egg
Temperament
gregarious and wary
Flight Pattern
fast and direct with rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Often forms flocks outside the breeding season and assembles at traditional drinking sites at dawn. Typically monogamous; pairs nest on the ground in a shallow scrape, laying two to three cryptically marked eggs. Both sexes incubate and attend the downy, precocial chicks, which can follow adults soon after hatching.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations are loud, rolling and far-carrying, often rendered as kattar-kattar given in flight or when approaching water. Calls help maintain cohesion in fast-moving flocks and can be heard over long distances in open country.
Plumage
Intricately barred upperparts with fine black and buff patterning, smooth sandy underparts, and white underwings visible in flight. Male shows cleaner contrasts and more vivid facial and breast tones; female is more heavily barred and cryptic overall. Long, narrow central tail streamers give the characteristic pin-tailed silhouette.
Diet
Feeds primarily on small seeds of grasses, forbs, and cultivated cereals, supplemented by buds and green shoots when available. Will take spilled grain in agricultural areas and selects hard, dry seeds that its muscular gizzard can process. Invertebrates are only occasionally taken, mainly by chicks early in life.
Preferred Environment
Forages on open ground with sparse vegetation, often on stony or sandy substrates. Frequently uses fallow fields, steppe edges, and semi-desert flats where visibility is high and cover is low.
