A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Pterocles exustus
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse is common in India and Africa.The male sandgrouse is slightly larger than female (In spotting from left first pic is male, 2nd pic is female and 3rd is pair ).They inhabit various natural, open, dry, sparsely bushy ecosystem and feed mainly on wild seeds
spotted in a thorn forest (Tirunelveli,Tamilnadu) near southern end of westernghats India.
One special feature of sandgrouse is their long flights to water holes in desert where not only do they drink, but during breeding they soak their belly feathers to carry water to the chicks. The male's belly feathers can hold up to 20 ml of water. (Ref:whatbird.com)
Spotted on Jul 24, 2017
Submitted on Dec 26, 2017
6 Comments
@Mark Ridgway .. Thank you so much :)
Excellent spotting Arun. I remember a documentary about these birds. Thanks for showing this.
@AntónioGinjaGinja .. data updated .. Thank you !
@AshleyT .. My sincere thanks for this nomination.
Hi Arun can you forfield the habitat window of your spotting?Thanks on advance
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!