Four-Banded Sandgrouse

     The Four-Banded Sandgrouse is a species of Sandgrouse that breeds in a large belt across Africa from Mauritania and Cameroon in the west, to the Sudan and Uganda in the east. It is a partial seasonal migrant sandgrouse, with some birds moving further north in the rainy season.

     The Four-Banded sandgrouse has yellow skin which surrounds its eyes, and yellowish-green head, neck and breast. The male has black and white bands on its forehead as well as rufous, black and white bands separating the breast from the heavily-barred belly. Female Four-Banded sandgrouse lack the head and the breast bands of the males, and are heavily-barred on the back and flanks.

     The Four-Banded sandgrouse closely resembles the Painted Sandgrouse but they don’t overlap in their finding places. Also, they have obvious differences in the patterning colors of their backs, which tend to be more colorful and complicated in the male Paibted sandgrouse. There is only a serious confusion when distinguishing the Four-Banded sandgrouse from the Black-Faced Sandgrouse and the Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse. The male Four-Banded Sandgrouse lacks the barred throat and breast pattern of the male Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse. And varies about the male Black-Faced Sandgrouse which has a different facial pattern with black extending to the throat as a frontal band. The female Four-Banded sandgrouse has a unique combination of plain buff breast and barred belly that distinguish her from other females of the other species.

     The Four-Banded sandgrouse breeds in the dry season from November to June. Its nest is a scrape on the ground which contains 2 – 3 eggs eggs. Both sexes of the Four-Banded sandgrouse incubate the eggs and raise the chicks till they reach the point of independence.