Syrrhaptes

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Syrrhaptes
Syrrhaptes paradoxus.jpg
Pallas's sandgrouse
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pterocliformes
Family: Pteroclidae
Genus: Syrrhaptes
Illiger, 1811
Type species
Tetrao paradoxa [1]
Pallas, 1773

Syrrhaptes is a genus of birds in the sandgrouse family. The genus name is from Ancient Greek surrhaptos, "sewn together"; the feathered toes of birds in this genus are fused together. [2]

There are two central Asian species.

Genus Syrrhaptes Illiger, 1811 – two species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Tibetan sandgrouse

Tibetan Sandgrouse Syrrhaptes Tibetanus.jpg

Syrrhaptes tibetanus
Gould, 1850
mountains ranges of Central Asia, Tibet, Central China and the HimalayasSize:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Pallas's sandgrouse

Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Jan Svetlik).jpg

Syrrhaptes paradoxus
(Pallas, 1773)
Kazakhstan, Mongolia, across Europe as far west as Great Britain
SyrrhaptesParadoxusIUCN.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 



These are large birds breeding in open steppes or plateau. They nest in a ground scrape into which three eggs are laid.

Both species have mainly buff upperparts, an orange face and feathered legs and toes. They are smaller-headed than other sandgrouse, but have sturdy compact bodies.

The small feet lack a hind toe, and the three front toes are fused together. The upper surface is feathered, and the underneath has a fleshy pad. The appearance of the foot is more like a paw than an avian foot. [3]

Although there is range overlap, they are easily distinguished. Tibetan sandgrouse has a white belly and black underwings, whereas Pallas's has a black belly and white underwings.

These birds are gregarious like other sandgrouse. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk, on long pointed wings.

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Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclidae, a family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pterocliformes. They are traditionally placed in two genera. The two central Asian species are classified as Syrrhaptes and the other fourteen species, from Africa and Asia, are placed in the genus Pterocles. They are ground-dwelling birds restricted to treeless, open country, such as plains, savannahs, and semi-deserts. They are distributed across northern, southern, and eastern Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and India through central Asia. The ranges of the black-bellied sandgrouse and the pin-tailed sandgrouse even extend into the Iberian Peninsula and France, and Pallas's sandgrouse occasionally breaks out in large numbers from its normal range in Asia.

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References

  1. "Pteroclidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  376. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. van Grouw, Katrina (2012). Unfeathered Bird. Princeton University Press. pp. 242–243. ISBN   978-0691151342.