Ganga tacheté

Observe dans la plaine du Gobaad à Djibouti en novembre 2013. Le Ganga tacheté (Pterocles senegallus) est une espèce d'oiseaux appartenant à la famille des Pteroclidae. The Spotted Sandgrouse (Pterocles senegallus) is a species of ground dwelling bird in the Pteroclididae family. It is found in arid regions of northern and eastern Africa and across the Middle East and parts of Asia as far east as northwest India. It is a gregarious, diurnal bird and small flocks forage for seed and other vegetable matter on the ground, flying once a day to a waterhole for water. In the breeding season pairs nest apart from one another, the eggs being laid in a depression on the stony ground. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and eat dry seed, the water they need being provided by the male which saturates its belly feathers with water at the waterhole. The Spotted Sandgrouse is listed as being of "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red List of Threatened Species. The Spotted Sandgrouse is found in North Africa and the Middle East. In Africa its range extends through Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger. In the Middle East it is native to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan and its range extends as far as Pakistan and north west India. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. It inhabits deserts and semi-arid countryside and is largely resident although there is some local movement of flocks. The population size has not been firmly established but it seems to be stable and the bird seems to be common over most of its extensive range. It is listed as being of "least concern" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.