The Namaqua sandgrouse was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Namaqua grous" that had been described in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds.

[3] The Namaqua sandgrouse is now placed with 13 other species in genus Pterocles that was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck.

The male has an orangish buff head, throat and chest delineated by a conspicuous narrow band of white and dark brown.

The back and wings are mottled brown with large white specks and there are two long black filaments extending from the olive-brown tail.

In order to survive, this bird needs only seeds, some gravel, and easy access to some sort of fresh water source.

The birds converge on watering holes in the early morning and several dozens or even hundreds of individuals may congregate in one place.

Sheep farmers kill birds of prey and jackals to protect their flocks and this may have resulted in an increase in the mongoose population and consequently a diminution in the number of sandgrouse chicks that survive.