Syrrhaptes paradoxus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Pallas's sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) is a medium to large bird in the sandgrouse family. Marco Polo mentions a bird called Bargherlac (from Turkmen bağırlak) in The Travels of Marco Polo, published around 1300. This is probably Syrrhaptes paradoxus (S. pallasii).
Pallas's sandgrouse is named after the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Syrrhaptes is from surrhaptos, meaning "sewn together" (the feathered toes of both species in the genus are fused together) and paradoxus is from paradoxos, meaning "strange".
Pallas's sandgrouse is 30–41 cm (12–16 in) long with small, pigeon-like head and neck, but sturdy compact body. It has long pointed wings and tail and legs and toes are feathered. Its plumage is buff-coloured, barred above with a black belly patch and pale underwings. The black belly and pale underwing distinguish this species from the related Tibetan sandgrouse. The male Pallas's sandgrouse is distinguished by its grey head and breast, orange face and grey breast band. The female has duller plumage and lacks the breast band though it has more barring on the upperparts.
The small feet... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bishkek | 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan |
No species of the same family or order lives in Bishkek, so these are its closest relatives here: other birds.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pallas's Sandgrouse sighting in Bishkek on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 58th most-seen of the 66 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pallas's Sandgrouse in Bishkek on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pallas's Sandgrouse sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Bishkek, in our data
Bishkek is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Pallas's Sandgrouse sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pallas's Sandgrouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Bishkek (5 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
