What is "sandgrouse"

alt. Any of several species of birds in the family Pteroclididae. n. Any of several species of birds in the family Pteroclididae.

n. pigeon-like bird of arid regions of the Old World having long pointed wings and tail and precocial downy young [syn: sand grouse]

Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclididae, a family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pteroclidiformes. They are traditionally placed in two genera. The two central Asian species are classified as Syrrhaptes and the other fourteen species, from Africa and Asia, are placed in the genus Pterocles. They are ground dwelling birds restricted to treeless, open country, such as plains, savannahs and semi-deserts. They are distributed across northern, southern and eastern Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East and India through to central Asia. The ranges of the black-bellied sandgrouse and the pin-tailed sandgrouse extend into the Iberian Peninsula and France, and Pallas's sandgrouse occasionally breaks out in large numbers from its normal range in Asia.

Sandgrouse is the journal of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East. It is named after a family of birds which are particularly characteristic of desert regions such as those found in the Middle East. The first ten issues were edited by Donald Parr. Numbers 11 to 12 and volumes 13 and 14 were edited by Duncan J. Brooks. Volumes 18-25 were edited by Guy Kirwan, and volume 26 jointly by Kirwan and Michael Blair. Mike Blair was then the editor until spring 2008. The current editor since volume 30(2) is Dr P. J. Cowan of the University of Nizwa in Oman.