Black-Faced Sandgrouse

     The Black-Faced Sandgrous is a species of the Sandgrouse family, found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. It has three subspecies that are slightly different in general plumage tone.

     The male Black-Faced sandgrouse has a neat face pattern with a vertical black stripe from the forecrown to the throat (that earn the bird its common name). And narrow black and white stripes curving above and behind the eyes. He has also a narrow black breast band above a broader white band. The different face pattern and the broad white band are the characteristics that distinguish the male Black-Faced sandgrouse from the similar looking Double-Banded Sandgrouse.

     Unlike the male Black-Faced sandgrouse, the female is almost entirely barred, mottled and streaked, except for a plain yellowish-buff lower face and a breast band. Also, she tends to have browner and coarser upperparts than those of the male, which are finer and more blackish. In flight, both sexes of the Black-Faced sandgrouse show grey-buff underwings that contrast with their black belly.

     After mating, the female Black-Faced sandgrouse lays 2 – 3 eggs in unlined scrape on sandy or stony ground. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 20 – 25 days, and do all the parental care.