Namaqua sandgrouse (Kelkiewyn)

Scientific name: Pterocles namaqua

The sandgrouse is a medium-sized bird with a plump body, small head and short legs.The male has an orangish buff head, throat and chest delineated by a conspicuous narrow band of white and dark brown. The back and wings are mottled brown with large white specks and there are two long black filaments extending from the olive-brown tail. The colouring of the female and juvenile is more cryptic being generally various shades of brown patterned with white specks.[2] It could be confused with the double-banded sandgrouse (Pterocles bicinctus) and Burchell's sandgrouse (Pterocles burchelli), which share the same range.
Near-endemic to southern Africa, occurring from south-western Angola through Namibia to patches of Botswana, the Northern Cape and adjacent provinces. It generally prefers gravel desert, sandy semi-desert, open dwarf shrubland and sandy savanna, while especially common in the Nama Karoo and southern Kalahari.
It mainly eats seeds, especially of protein-rich legumes, supplemented with flowers, small fruits and fresh leaves. It does most of its foraging in the day with its head held low, rapidly pecking the ground and flicking away soil with its beak.