Syrrhaptes paradoxus

Pallas's sandgrouse is a medium to large sandgrouse, 30–41cm long, with a small pigeon-like head and neck on a sturdy, compact body. It has long pointed wings and tail and feathered legs and toes. The plumage is buff, barred above, with a black belly patch and pale underwings, which distinguish it from the related Tibetan sandgrouse (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds across the middle latitudes of central Asia on dry steppes and similar habitats. The nest is a ground scrape holding two or three greenish, cryptically marked eggs. It occasionally irrupts from its regular range as a vagrant across Europe as far west as Great Britain, where it has bred, and Ireland (Wikipedia, general species account).