Pteroclidae (sandgrouse; class Aves, order Columbiformes) A family of medium-sized birds which have brown and grey, barred, spotted, and mottled upper-parts, yellow, chestnut, white, and black under-parts, and face markings. They have short, conical bills, short necks, long, pointed wings, and a medium to long tail. Their legs are short and feathered (in the two species of Syrrhaptes including the toes). They are gregarious and terrestrial, inhabit open plains, desert, and brush, feed on seeds, and nest on the ground. There are two genera, comprising 16 species, some migratory, found in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Syrrhaptes species occur only in Asia, but Pallas's sandgrouse (S. paradoxus) is prone to mass migration.

Columbiformes (pigeons, doves, sandgrouse; class Aves) An order that comprises two families of birds, Columbidae and Pteroclidae. A third family, Rhaphidae, is now extinct.

sandgrouse See COLUMBIFORMES; PTEROCLIDAE.