Podoces

Podoces, known as ground jays, is a genus of four species of passerine birds in the crow family Corvidae, adapted to high-altitude semi-desert environments across Central Asia and Mongolia. They have long strong legs built for fast running, can leap and bound onto boulders and rocks, and their long curved thick bills are adapted for digging and probing; though capable of flight they rarely use it, preferring to move on the ground and spending little time perched in trees or bushes. The four species are the Mongolian ground jay of Mongolia, northern China, Russia and Kazakhstan, the Xinjiang ground jay of China, the Iranian ground jay of eastern Iran, and the Turkestan ground jay of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all inhabiting arid, elevated, rocky terrain.