Whilst birding Dhahran Hills Cricket Pitch I am across two Greater Short-toed Larks. Birds that pass through Saudi Arabia are migratory populations, which breed from Ukraine to Mongolia and winter 2,000 km south. In Saudi Arabian it has a status as a rare breeding migrant, very common passage migrant and common winter visitor. They prefer open sandy or gravel plains with herbs and grasses, or cultivated areas and feed mainly on invertebrates in spring and autumn and seeds in winter. They usually forage alone or in pairs, as these birds were doing but can form large groups.
