 Eastern populations, particularly those from Kazakhstan, migrate to Pakistan and parts of northern India in winter.The pin-tailed sandgrouse inhabits open areas of stony land, semi arid areas at the edge of deserts, treeless plains and occasionally dried-out mud flats.In winter it may visit ploughed or fallow land but prefers sandy soils and is much less reliant on vegetation cover than the black-bellied sandgrouse ("Pterocles orientalis") which has a similar range.