The Red-spotted Bluethroat is an uncommon wintering species in Saudi Arabia with birds wintering at Sabkhat Al Fasl each year, where it is locally common. The first birds return to Sabkhat Al Fasl around the same time and appear to be females with ringing data suggesting they first return in mid-October. A week or so […]
Tag: saudi arabia
Pied Kingfisher – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl 23 October 2015 I found a Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis flying around near one of the nets. Pied Kingfisher is a scarce winter visitor to Saudi Arabia with most records from the Eastern Province. On 25 February 1999 there were six birds present at Sabkhat Al Fasl (Jubail) and […]
First year Citrine Wagtail a new Saudi Arabia ringing species – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 10 October 2015 we caught a first year Citrine Wagtail. This was the first time we have caught and ringed this species in Saudi Arabia and was a bit of a surprise as we seldom catch any wagtails as they are so good at seeing and avoiding the […]
Short-toed Snake Eagle – Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm
Whilst birding Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm, near Jubail on 11 September 2015 I saw a juvenile Short-toed Snake Eagle over one of the spray fields. The bird dropped down behind the horizon and looked like it may have landed in the field. We drove around and saw the bird take off and fly away […]
Purple Swamphens in Saudi Arabia
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio has been split into five species by IOC 5.3 largely in accordance with Sangster 1998 and Garcia & Trewick 2015 into 5 species. These splits will be followed by OSME and means that Grey-headed Swamphen P. poliocephalus is by far the main species in the Region, comprising the nominate, caspius and […]
Desert Tawny Owl: New Species of Bird Discovered
A group of ornithologists led by Dr Manuel Schweizer from the Natural History Museum of Bern in Switzerland has described a new cryptic species of owl that inhabits the desert areas of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman and Yemen. The newly-discovered species, named the Desert Tawny Owl, belongs to the earless owl genus, Strix. […]
Saudi Prince kills two percent of global population of endangered bird
In a three week hunting safari between January 11th and 31st of this year, Saudi Arabian Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his party allegedly shot down 2,100 Asian Houbara bustards (Chlamydotis macqueenii) in Balochistan, Pakistan. Scientists aren’t certain how many Houbara bustards survive today, but their best estimate is around 100,000 […]
Pakistan urged to ban Arab sheikhs from hunting endangered birds
Pakistan is witnessing a mounting backlash against Arab sheikhs who spend part of their winters hunting a rare bird that conservationists warn is at risk of extinction. Activists in the country say they are determined to end the annual killing of houbara bustards, an elusive bird that migrates each winter from central Asia to Pakistan’s […]