Four-Banded Sandgrouse

Pterocles quadricinctus

Range

• Central Africa

Habitat

• Grasslands

Diet

• Insects
• Green shoots
• Leaves
• Bulbs
• Berries

Not a true grouse, these small birds primarily walk on the ground where they blend into the tall grasses of the savannah but are capable of flight at speeds of 60 mph.

Being mainly nocturnal, flocks fly to watering holes in the evening to drink. Special feathers on their bellies will soak up water for the parent to carry back to a chick that cannot reach the water hole. Two or three eggs are laid in a scrape in the ground.