Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Pterocles alchata

Order: Pteroclidiformes
Family: Pteroclididae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
Protection in Spain: Vulnerable · Andalusian Catalogue
In Spanish: Ganga ibérica

Photograph: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 31–39 cm
Wingspan: 55–63 cm
Weight: 290–330 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. Two records: At Gibraltar on 13.09.76 and in the River Guadiaro estuary on 27.08.83.

Identification

White belly and long tail. Males have orangey-chestnut breast and face, and a black eye-stripe and throat. Females are paler with white throat and dark barred back. Their nearest breeding area is the North of the province of Cadiz, in the Sanlucar de Barrameda and Trebujena marshes. ad. ad. Ganga Ortega Ganga Ibérica Pteroclidae ad. Ganga Ortega ad. Ganga Ibérica

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

100 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 9.0 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

Sensitive species (very scarce breeder, sensitive to disturbance): its observations are shown with the location generalised to about 11 km, here and in the explorer. The original source keeps the exact position.

First open record: 15 September 1997
Latest record: 15 September 1997

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Vulnerable
Spanish Catalogue: Vulnerable
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: VU · Vulnerable · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Plan: AVES ESTEPARIAS · Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Black-bellied Sandgrouse33–39 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pteroclidiformes
Family: Pteroclididae
GBIF taxon key: 2480204

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery