12 February 2014

Red-vented Bulbul at Udhailiyah Heights – Bird record by Nishan Xavier

Nishan Xavier sent me this beautiful photo of a Red-vented Bulbul he took on 31 January 2014 in Udhailiyah Heights and has kindly allowed me to use it on my website. This is not a common species in the Easter Province and in Dhahran I have only had a few records with most sightings being in my garden. Having said that I have only seen them on a few occasions. Birds have bred in a few Gulf towns and are originally from introduced or escaped birds. They are self-sustaining now in a few scattered areas but not easy to see and this is easily the best photo I have seen of the species in Saudi Arabia.
Red-vented Bulbul

Nishan also sent me great photographs of a Eurasian Hoopoe and White-eared Bulbul, two commoner species, from the same site taken on 7 February that he has also allowed me to use - see below.
Eurasian Hoopoe
White-eared Bulbul