Black-bellied Sandgrouse

The black-bellied sandgrouse is a medium-large sandgrouse, 33–39 cm long and weighing 300–615 g, likely the largest in its family. The male has a grey head, neck and breast, black underparts, golden-brown upperparts with darker markings, a thin black border around the lower breast and a chestnut throat patch. The white underwings and black belly make it easy to identify in flight. Females are whiter below, but often hard to tell apart (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a partial migrant, with central Asian birds moving to Pakistan and northern India in winter. This gregarious bird breeds on dry open plains and similar habitats, but unlike the pin-tailed sandgrouse it avoids areas with no vegetation. The nest is a ground scrape holding three greenish, cryptically marked eggs; both sexes incubate, but only the male brings water. The call is a soft chowrrr rrrr-rrrr. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of grassland that eats plants and seeds, and does not assign a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).