Pterocles burchelli
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Burchell's sandgrouse (Pterocles burchelli) is a species of bird in the family Pteroclidae. It is found in arid and semi-arid regions of southern Africa. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell.
Burchell's sandgrouse is a plump bird about the size of a pigeon with a small head and short legs. The body is light brown, mottled with darker shades and white speckles. In males, the eye is surrounded by bare yellow skin and the cheeks and throat are pale grey. The male grows to about 25 cm (10 in) long and the female is a little smaller.
Burchell's sandgrouse is limited by water availability, like many species residing in desert environments. Adult sandgrouse increase gular fluttering and panting for evaporative cooling when approaching the upper critical limit of their thermal neutral zone around 43.8°C. Another adaptation that adult Burchell's sandgrouse have developed is the transport of water in body feathers from a water source back to the nest to water their chicks. Upon arriving at a water source, adult Burchell's sandgrouse first rub their bellies on dry ground to ruffle up their belly feathers, increasing the amount of water... Wikipedia →
Call0:04
Zimbabwe · 2024
© Dries Van de Loock · XC962506 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Call0:54
Botswana · 2017
© Lynette Rudman · XC397231 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:16
Botswana · 2020
© Dewald du Plessis · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 3 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 4 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 5 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Burchell's Sandgrouse sighting in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, based on 144 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 122 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Burchell's Sandgrouse in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, against about 10% in January–April and July, the lowest months. That is one of Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 40 mm in January. May has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Burchell's Sandgrouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Burchell's Sandgrouse sightings, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe, about 20%) and Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Burchell's Sandgrouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (144 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
