Wingspan compared with a person with arms outstretched.
Length
34–36 cm
Wingspan
65–70 cm
Weight
300–615 g
Social life
Gregarious, more markedly outside the breeding season; usually seen in small groups
Lifespan
At least 10 years
Conservation status
LC
NT
VU
EN
CR
EW
EX
Global (IUCN)
Least Concern
Spain
Endangered (EN) in the 2021 Red Book of the Birds of Spain nationally (Vulnerable for the Canarian population); Vulnerable (VU) in the National Catalogue of Threatened Species
When to see it
Resident
Months of the year when it is present
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
In Iberia
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Breeding season
no
no
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
no
no
no
Song or voice of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
Its voice is very distinctive: a warm, unvarying cooing, which it uses as a contact call in flight, «churr…, churr»1. The recording (flight call) is by SonoNatura and was made in La Moraña (near Donvidas), Ávila, Castilla y León (xeno-canto XC861664, quality A). It lasts 9 seconds and is a trimmed section of the original, without repeating or lengthening, from which we have removed the bass below 300 Hz, reduced the background noise and adjusted the volume; neither pitch nor speed has been changed.
Its flight is powerful and slow-beating. When it flies, it shows the pointed wings, white and black underneath. On the Peninsula, transhumant and nomadic movements of short and medium range between cores are described, which are still under study1.
Flight typePowerful and slow-beating, with pointed wings
A ground-living bird of camouflage colours, usually seen in small groups, more marked outside the breeding season.
Its flight is powerful and slow-beating, and when it flies it shows the pointed wings, white and black underneath.
It uses as a contact call in flight a warm, unvarying cooing, «churr…, churr».
Photo gallery of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
Pair of Black-bellied Sandgrouse in flight against a blue sky: the male, with orange throat and dark belly, and the female, in earthy tonesPhoto: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo 1 of 5
Two Black-bellied Sandgrouse in a meadow with stones: the male, with grey neck and orange throat, and the female, more earthy, behindPhoto: Dûrzan Cîrano, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo 2 of 5
Male Black-bellied Sandgrouse standing on a stony wasteland, with orange throat, grey neck and back mottled with golden ocelliPhoto: mourad-harzallah, CC BY 4.0Photo 3 of 5
Female Black-bellied Sandgrouse in profile on a stony wasteland, with heavily vermiculated earthy plumage and a small black line on the throatPhoto: mourad-harzallah, CC BY 4.0Photo 4 of 5
Flock of Black-bellied Sandgrouse in flight, seen from below against a pale sky (Community of Madrid)Photo: dgarc3, CC BY-NC 4.0Photo 5 of 5
1 / 5
Identification of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
The Black-bellied Sandgrouse is a ground-living bird, compact, stocky and of camouflage colours. The male has grey tones on the head and neck, except on the throat, which is orange with a black base. A black breast band marks off the salmon-coloured breast, while the belly is strikingly black. The back and folded wings show large golden ocelli on a greyish background. The tail is short, vermiculated above and white with a black subterminal band below. The bill and legs are grey, the latter with short toes and with the front of the tarsus feathered in white. It is told from the Pin-tailed Sandgrouse by its larger size, its black belly and its shorter tail, without the long central feathers. The female is less showy, with an overall earthy pattern, heavily vermiculated on the back, breast, crown and nape; besides the breast band and the black belly, she has a small black line on the throat. Young birds are a paler, less contrasting version of the adults of each sex.
Male
Head and neck grey, throat orange with a black base.
Black breast band, salmon-coloured breast and black belly; golden ocelli on the back.
Female
Earthy, heavily vermiculated plumage, with a small black line on the throat.
Breast band and belly black, like the male’s.
Habitat and distribution of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
It is found in the arid belt that runs from the Canaries to central Asia, through the Iberian Peninsula, the Maghreb, the Near East and the Middle East as far as western China. Two subspecies are accepted, a western one in Europe and Africa and an eastern one in Asia, the latter partly migratory.
On Iberian territory it occupies 31 provinces, which are grouped in eight cores: the northern plateau, the Ebro valley, the moors of the Iberian System, Extremadura, the southern plateau, the Guadalquivir valley, the Subbetic peneplains and the semi-arid south-east1. To them is added the important population of Fuerteventura; in Lanzarote it is very scarce.
It is tied all year round to semi-arid zones, moors and extensive dry-farmed crops. It tolerates slightly rugged terrain and the presence of scattered trees and shrubs better than the Pin-tailed Sandgrouse; it also favours long-standing fallows, dry grasslands and wasteland, and avoids sown crops and scrub of some height. It occupies from sea level to 1,300 metres on the Iberian moors, and needs accessible, open drinking sites near the breeding areas.
It is usually considered resident in Spain, although its movements are little known: it seems very sedentary in the Canaries, but on the Peninsula population increases in some areas and disappearances in others have been described.
Areas where it is regularly recorded since 2010Squares of about 25 km where it is recorded regularly (occasional passage records are left out). Data from GBIF.org (8,904 records, retrieved October 2026); outline from Natural Earth.
Etymology of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
According to Wikipedia, Linnaeus described it in 1758, in the tenth edition of the «Systema Naturae», and included it, with the other birds similar to gamebirds, in the genus «Tetrao». In other languages it is called «xurra» in Catalan, «cortizol de barriga negra» in Galician, «ganga azpibeltza» in Basque and «black-bellied sandgrouse» in English1. According to Jobling, «orientalis» means «eastern»; from that the origin of «ortega» cannot be deduced, and we have not found it in any source, so we do not venture one.
Population of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
The 2021 European Red List of Birds estimates a European population of between 14,900 and 37,700 individuals, with a decreasing trend. The III Atlas of Breeding Birds of Spain gives some 7,000 birds, nearly 30 % of them on Fuerteventura, against the 8,500–13,500 estimated in 2005. The Spanish population fell by 34 % between 2005 and 20191.
Its main problem is, by far, the reduction of its habitat through the deep changes in the rural and farming environment: agricultural intensification, fewer fallows and field boundaries, reforestation of farmland and the increase in olive groves and irrigation. To this are added urbanisation and infrastructure, excessive use of pesticides and a high livestock load. It is called for these trends to be halted with agri-environment programmes that reduce biocides and livestock load, diversify the landscape and limit irrigation and olive growing1.
Nest of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
The clutch is laid in a small hollow in the ground, generally in the open.
Courtship and breeding of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
The breeding period runs, depending on the region, between April and August, although it may last until October. The clutch consists of two or three very cryptic eggs, with a greenish-ochre background and numerous dark spots, and is laid mostly in April in the Canaries and in June on the Peninsula. As predation reaches 75 % of the eggs, replacement clutches are frequent, which can last until August. Incubation lasts about 25 days and is shared by both sexes: the male incubates at night and in the morning; the female, the rest of the day. The chicks, camouflaged, leave the nest soon after hatching and are able to follow the parents and feed themselves; they make short flights at three or four weeks, but do not fly well until two months, when they reach adult size. Until then the parents bring them water, because the breast feathers absorb the liquid, and the male is more efficient and active in this task.
Diet of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
It is almost exclusively seed-eating and feeds mainly on small seeds of herbaceous plants, with some preference for legumes, of which it sometimes eats the leaves. It takes more cultivated grain in summer and, in winter, wild seeds. That diet requires regular drinking, above all in hot periods, and so it visits drinking sites at least twice a day: two or three hours after dawn and one or two hours before sunset.
Curious facts about the Black-bellied Sandgrouse
The chicks receive water from their parents, who carry it in their breast feathers, which are able to absorb the liquid1. It is a long-lived bird, with at least 10 years of life and low reproductive rates, and easier to hear than to see1.
The Black-bellied Sandgrouse in Cabañeros
The habitat pages of this website do not mention it, but it does appear in the bird list of the «Visitor guide to Cabañeros National Park» (OAPN, page 104). That list vouches for its presence in the Park, not that it breeds there. GBIF.org records 9 observations of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse in Cabañeros and its surroundings. The southern plateau is among the eight cores of the species, without specifying localities1. Only one of those observations falls within the Park boundary (according to OpenStreetMap); the rest are from the surroundings.
Where to see the Black-bellied Sandgrouse in Cabañeros
In Cabañeros and its surroundings, on rare occasions, on wasteland, fallows and extensive dry-farmed crops.
When
Present all year in Spain; breeding runs from April to August.
What time
By day, beside drinking sites: two or three hours after dawn and one or two before sunset.
Where
In semi-arid zones, moors and extensive dry-farmed crops, long fallows and wasteland.
What to look for
Look for the black belly and the pointed wings, white and black underneath; listen for the «churr…, churr» in flight.
It is similar in physical appearance1. The Black-bellied Sandgrouse is told from it by its larger size, its black belly and its shorter tail, without the long central feathers.
Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0
Other birds
Birds related to the Black-bellied Sandgrouse or sharing its habitats in Cabañeros.
Same family
Same season in the park
Same season in the park
Same season in the park
Same season in the park
Same season in the park
Same season in the park
Same season in the park
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