Painted Sandgrouse Pterocles indicus Scientific name definitions

28 cm; c. 170–227 g. As P. lichtensteinii, P. quadricinctus and P. bicinctus, small, densely barred , with short tail and black and white pattern on head of males . Very similar to P. quadricinctus, male with characteristic design on wing-coverts; female also with breast and neck heavily barred. Male differs from P. bicinctus by chestnut bar within pectoral band ; female has dorsal marks more straight, not crescent-shaped, and darker belly. Bill orange-brown ; orbital ring yellow . Juvenile similar to adult female, even more densely streaked and barred.

NE Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) E to N India (N Haryana District) and from Gujarat E to West Bengal and Odisha, S through peninsula to Tamil Nadu.

Bare foothills and plateaux, sparsely covered with scrub or thorn bushes (Acacia, Capparis, Ziziphus); also in more forested country, at rocky ground , firelines and burnt areas; avoids coastal tracts.

Sedentary, perhaps locally nomadic. Tends to concentrate in some areas near the end of the rains.

Seeds, some shoots and apparently termites in certain seasons. Drinks after dusk.

Flight call a rapid sequence of 2–4 staccato gravelly notes, with emphasis on the last one “dji-dji-chik!” or “wi-chik!”, repeated at intervals.

Perhaps mostly Apr–May-Jun, but scattered records in all other months except Jul and Sep. Scrape among stones and earth, with little or no lining; commonly shaded by bush, tree or boulder. Clutch, usually 3 eggs, sometimes 2. Incubation period, estimated 21–23 days. Downy chick described as uniform earthy brown.

Not globally threatened. Moderately common in parts of India; rather rare and local, but locally frequent in Pakistan. Usually in pairs or small groups.