Pterocles lichtensteinii
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Lichtenstein's sandgrouse (Pterocles lichtensteinii) is a species of sandgrouse in the family Pteroclidae. It is named after the German naturalist Martin Lichtenstein. A small, closely barred bird of stony deserts and arid hills, it ranges across northern and eastern Africa, the Middle East and south-western Asia to Pakistan. It is nomadic and mostly nocturnal, drinking before dawn and after dusk.
Lichtenstein's sandgrouse is a small, stocky sandgrouse about 25 cm (9.8 in) long and weighing 175–250 g (6.2–8.8 oz). It lacks the elongated central tail feathers of some other sandgrouse, and both sexes are closely barred blackish on a buff ground, above and below.
Lichtenstein's sandgrouse has a very large range, covering some 18,200,000 square kilometres (7,000,000 sq mi) across Africa and south-western Asia. It is found from near the equator in Kenya north and east through the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Africa it occurs in Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda; in Asia it occurs in Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 232 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 91st most-seen of the 341 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.
April, June–July and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in January and May, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lichtenstein's 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.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse sightings, Samburu National Reserve has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Awash National Park (Ethiopia, about 10%).
Same genus: Pterocles
The closest relatives of the Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (genus Pterocles, Typical Sandgrouse) are Black-faced Sandgrouse (about 50%) and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (232 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.
