Family Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Least Concern
Mongolian Ground-jay (Podoces hendersoni)
Taxonomy
French: Podoce de Henderson German: Mongolenhäher Spanish: Arrendajo terrestre mongol
Other common names:
Henderson's Ground-jay
Taxonomy:
Podoces Hendersoni
A. O. Hume
, 1871,no locality = between Sanju and Koshtak, Xinjiang, China
.Distribution:
SC Russia (Tuva) and W & S Mongolia S to NW & N China (S to Tien Shan, E to NE Qinghai, N Gansu, W Inner Mongolia and Ningxia).
Descriptive notes
28 cm; 104–140 g. Beautifully patterned little corvid with gently decurved bill, slightly ruffled rear crown, and rather long uppertail-coverts concealing basal half of... read more
Voice
Hardly studied. Calls include harsh penetrating whistle, and a sound likened to the "clack-... read more
Habitat
Flat extensive stony or gravel desert or semi-desert with scattered bushes, e.g. peashrub (... read more
Food and feeding
Omnivorous. Food during breeding season mainly insects, especially beetles (Coleoptera), and even small lizards recorded; at other times... read more
Breeding
Few nests found. Eggs laid late Mar in W Xinjiang (Kashi) and early Apr in Inner Mongolia (Junggar basin), in China, and late Apr to early... read more
Movements
Sedentary, as far as is known. Vagrant to Kazakhstan, with single reliable record in Oct 1962.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Generally uncommon. In Mongolia not rare, but thinly spread over Gobi desert and in semi-deserts farther north. In China, population studies... read more
Together with P. biddulphi sometimes separated in Eupodoces, differing from other two members of present genus in having black on crown, relatively long uppertail-coverts and dark legs, and lacking blackish breast patch. Monotypic.