Pterocles decoratus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The black-faced sandgrouse (Pterocles decoratus) is a species of ground-dwelling bird in the Pteroclidae family. It is a mainly sedentary bird found in East Africa, ranging from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is a medium-sized bird which is well-adapted and well-camouflaged to life in arid environments. It is a dove-like bird due to its physical resemblance, particularly its small head, short legs, and pointed wings. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The black-faced sandgrouse is a medium-sized bird approximately 28 cm (11 in) long and weighing between 140 and 210 g (4.9 and 7.4 oz). Overall, it has a small and compact body, with a short tail, pointed wings, as well as short and feathered legs. The wing tips are black when in flight.
As its name suggests, the male is easily recognizable with black face markings extending from the forehead down to the throat. The male is also characterized by a black and a white eyebrow stripe above the eye, a pinkish-orange bill, and a yellow eye-ring contrasting against its black facial colour. The chest is a pale brown with a thin bold black stripe followed by a thick white stripe on the breast... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 12 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Sandgrouse sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 631 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Sandgrouse in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against about 40% in October, the lowest month. That is one of Samburu National Reserve's wettest months, with about 95 mm of rain against 5 mm in September.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-faced Sandgrouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Black-faced Sandgrouse sightings, Samburu National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 50%. The best odds are in Ruaha National Park (Tanzania, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Pterocles
The closest relatives of the Black-faced Sandgrouse that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (genus Pterocles, Typical Sandgrouse) are Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (about 40%) and Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-faced Sandgrouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (631 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.
