29 December 2023

Rose-ringed Parakeets – Dhahran Cricket Field

Whilst checking out the birds on the Dhahran Cricket Field I saw a group of Rose-ringed Parakeets Psittacula krameria. The birds were trying to collect water from leaking air conditioning units on one of the buldings, as the weather was very hot and humid. The species is a locally common resident in larger cities in Saudi Arabia. They are relatively common in Riyadh but outside the capital it is less frequent and rather scarce in the southwest. They are also a common resident to towns and villages of the Gulf, including my local patch of Dhahran and in Jeddah. They are probably an introduced species that have become a self-sustaining resident breeder although this is unclear as record keeping on birds of the region has not been so good over the years. Even though I see the species almost every day I have never had the chance to photograph them properly so these photos are my best efforts so far.