Black-faced Sandgrouse - BirdForum Opus

Alternative names: Bridled Sandgrouse and Masked Sandgrouse.

Male
Photo by megan perkins
Tsavo east , Kenya, April 2006

Pterocles decoratus

Identification

Black band dividing brown neck from white belly
Male has a black mark through the face and white stripes above the eye
These features are missing in the female
Immature birds have white-tips to the feathers

Female
Photo by nick scarle
Samburu National Park, Kenya, March 2009

Distribution

Eastern Africa: found in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

There are 3 subspecies:

• P. d. ellenbecki:

• North-eastern Uganda to northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia

• P. d. decoratus:

• Savanna and coastal dunes of south-eastern Kenya and eastern Tanzania

• P. d. loveridgei:

• Western Kenya and western Tanzania

Habitat

Up to 1600m in woodland, bush and dry grassland.

Behaviour

The eggs are a warm brown with brown speckles.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Kenya Birds
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black-faced Sandgrouse. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-faced_Sandgrouse

External Links

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