While the Republic of Yemen, which includes the island archipelago of Socotra, dubbed the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean”, boasts the highest number of endemic bird species of any country on the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia now stands as the easiest and safest country in which to see many of these singular gems. Not to […]
Tag: saudi birding
Haradh is Heating Up! Prime Fall Birding in Saudi’s Eastern Province
Yesterday Adam Harris and I made the two-hour run from Al Ahsa to one of the best areas in the Eastern Province for finding an interesting array of desert, grassland, and migratory birds. We arrived to Haradh just past seven and headed directly to the pivot field where last year we had seen our primary […]
Jizan to Al Namas: A Saudi Birding Epic
Total Avian Species: 151 Total Endemics and Near-Endemics: 17 Highlights: Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris mitratus Harlequin Quail Coturnix delegorguei arabica Philby’s Partridge Alectoris philbyi Arabian Partridge Alectoris melanocephala Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor Dusky Turtle-Dove Streptopelia lugens African Collared-Dove Streptopelia roseogrisea Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata Bruce’s Green-Pigeon Treron waalia Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteinii White-browed Coucal Centropus […]
Help Needed in Saudi: The Saudi Birding Community’s Effort to Track Down a Tagged Egyptian Vulture
The weekend before last, Yoav Perlman forwarded the following email from Ron Efrat, a researcher in the wider region studying Egyptian Vultures, to Jem Babbington and me and asked if we might use our contacts here in Saudi to track down the missing vulture. I opened the link in Google Maps and realized that the […]
Possible Breeding Basra Reed Warbler in Al Ha’ir, Riyadh Province, KSA
On a visit to Riyadh in May 2019, I headed to Al Ha’ir in the hopes of gathering further evidence Basra Reed Warbler Acrocephalus griseldis was indeed breeding there. This would be significant, if confirmed, as this species is currently listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, its decline understood to […]