The painted 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 "La gélinote des Indes" from the Coromandel Coast that had been described and illustrated in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat.

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

The breast and belly are a uniform pinkish-brown colour and the back, wings and tail are brown, boldly marked in black and white transverse bars.

[citation needed] The painted sandgrouse is found in dry regions in rough grassland, rocky areas and scrub and feeds mainly on seeds.