Whilst birding recently in the Abha area I came across a few Arabian Wheatear Oenanthe lugentoides where birds were most often perched on areas of boulders with slightly more males recorded than females.
This is a rather scarce resident of the south-west highlands, but is also found in Oman, Palestine and Yemen, mainly in rocky, bushy sites. It is widespread on the Jebal Souda plateau, Wadi Tale’a and Tanoumah.
They also occur in the Tihama mainly around jebals such as Jebal Aswad and Jebal Gaha and have been recorded as far north as Taif where they are common around Wadi Thee Gazelle.
Jem Babbington
Jem Babbington is a keen birder and amateur photographer located in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia where he goes birding every day. Jem was born in England and is a serious local patch and local area birder who has been birding for almost forty years and has birded in more than fifty countries. Jem is learning to ring birds in Bahrain as a perfect way to learn more about the birds of the area. Saudi Arabia is a very much under-watched and under-recorded country.
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