From Opus

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

Pterocles exustus

Identification

• Buffy beige
• Barred, elongated central tail feathers

Distribution

Central and northern Africa and southern Asia.

Photo by atomicmak
Thol, Mehsana, Gujarat, India, April 2009

Taxonomy

Subspecies

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

Diet

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

References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

External Links