The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a very distinct and interesting group of the passerine order of birds in the genus Podoces of the crow family corvidae that inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia.
They show excellent distinct adaptations to their ground living way of life such as long, strong legs adapted to fast running and they leap and bound onto boulders and rocks with great agility. Their long, curved thick bills are adapted for digging and probing.
They can all of course fly (which they do little and relatively weakly), but prefer running, and will readily perch on trees and bushes also.
Species list
Henderson's Ground Jay (Podoces hendersoni)
Biddulph's Ground Jay (Podoces biddulphi)
Persian Ground Jay (Podoces pleskei)
Grey Ground Jay (Podoces panderi)
Hume's Ground Tit (Pseudopodoces humilis), previously Hume's Ground Jay, has changed its placement within the Passeriformes recently because of molecular and osteological testing. It has now been placed into the Paridae.
External links
Link (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1474-919X.2003.00170.x/abs/)
Hume's Ground Tit (Pseudopodoces humilis), previously known as Hume's GroundJay, is a lark-like bird.
The flight of this bird is not strong and it flies low over the ground preferring to run or jump out of the way if approached which it does very quickly.
Food is obtained on the ground and includes a wide range of insect prey often obtained by probing wild Yak dung and turning it over to flush them out.
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