From Opus

Pterocles exustus

Photo by Jugal Tiwari
Location: Banni, Kutch, Gujarat, India, July, 2008

Identification

Buffy beige, barred, elongated central tail feathers.

Distribution

Central and northern Africa and southern Asia.

Taxonomy

Pterocles exustus has six subspecies:^[1]

• P. e. exustus

• Mauritania and Senegambia and east to Sudan

• P. e. floweri

• Extinct (Egypt)

• P. e. ellioti

• South-eastern Sudan to Eritrea, northern Ethiopia and Somalia

• P. e. olivascens

• Southern Ethiopia to Somalia, Kenya and northern Tanzania

• P. e. erlangeri

• Western and southern Arabian Peninsula

• P. e. hindustan

• South-eastern Iran to Pakistan and India

Habitat

Arid, bushy areas, rocky open landscape.

Behaviour

The diet includes seeds, grasses, mustard leaves and herbs. They are heavily dependent on water.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

1. Wikipedia

External Links

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages