Black Kite - Abu Arish Municipal Dump

Whilst birding the Abu Arish Municipal Dump in mid-November we found up to 250 Black Kites, with more than 650 in the entire area. It was an amazing spectacle watching hundreds of Black Kites swirling around the rubbish dump, with some birds right overhead and many others on the ground. Some birds looked like typical Black Kites which are a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia. The two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite with European Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans - Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe to Tien Shan and south to NW Pakistan. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Black-eared Kite Milvus migrans lineatus - Siberia to Amurland South around Himalaya to Iran, Northern India, Northern Indochina and Southern China; Japan. Recent DNA work suggests that the Black-eared Kite (M. m. lineatus), is not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status. The status varys throughout Saudi Arabia, where in the east they are uncommon passage migrants, mainly in the spring, and winter visitors, whereas in the west they are common to very common passage migrants and winter visitors occurring from Tabuk in the north and increasing in numbers towards Jizan in the southwest. In central areas it is an uncommon spring and autumn passage migrant and winter visitor that passes in March and again early August to October with wintering birds arriving in November and departing early February.

Raptors in October – Eastern Province

Whilst birding several areas of the Eastern Province in October I have come across and photographed a number of raptors. In Haradh I saw two Pallid Harriers over the pivot irrigation fields. This is a regular species at this time of year with some remaining for the winter. Another bird of prey seen in Haradh was an adult Steppe Eagle. It was located circling high above the ground but luckily, we managed to drive the car to be directly underneath the bird. Steppe Eagle is a common passage migrant and winter visitor to the Kingdom and can be seen at Haradh throughout the winter. Common Kestrel is as its name suggests common in the Kingdom. Many are seen over pivot irrigation fields but the one I photographed was in Daffi Park, Jubail, perched in a tree. Jubail also held several Black Kites and by mid-October good numbers of Greater Spotted Eagles. Greater Spotted Eagles will now remain over winter and can be seen at most large wetland areas where they are often seen perched on power line structures.

Pallid Harrier

Steppe Eagle

Steppe Eagle

Common Kestrel

Black Kite

Black Kite

Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Black Kites - Ushaiqer

Whilst birding the Ushaiqer area near Riyadh where thousands of Steppe Eagles are wintering, I saw a few Black Kites associating with them. Numbers were always low with two together being a maximum and these birds beng wintering ones rather than passage as they were seen in early January. The birds looked like typical Black Kites rather than the similar subspecies Black-eared Kite. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia. Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans - Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe to Tien Shan and south to NW Pakistan and winters in sub-Saharan Africa with a few in the Arabian Peninsula. 

Jizan Sewage works outfall – Jizan

Whilst in Jizan and looking for colour ringed Baltic Gulls we went down the coast towards Yemen. As there is unrest in Yemen and it is not too safe to go too close to the boarder we stopped at Jizan Sewage Works about 12 kilometres south of the city centre. This sewage works is a modern facility so few birds occur where the water is treated but some overflow goes out to a small area of mangroves and into the sea. This area proved to be a good new site with plenty of good birds seen. The mangroves held plenty of Eurasian (Mangrove) Reed Warblers, and many Greater Flamingo were around. Birds of prey seen included a single first calendar year Greater Spotted Eagle, tens of Black Kits and a single Long-legged Buzzard. Waders included Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Common Redshank and Pied Avocet. Hundred duck were recorded nearby with three species were there including Pintail, Northern Shoveller and Eurasian Wigeon.

Black Kite

Black Kite

Black Kite

Bar-tailed Godwit

Greater Flamingo

Grey Plover

Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shoveler

Eurasian Wigeon

House Crow

Mangrove Reed Warbler

Black Kites – Deffi Park

On the 27 October 2017, I saw five Black Kites in the very early morning perched in the trees and flying around Deffi Park in Jubail. I have not seen the species at this site before and five is a high number for the Eastern Province. Compare this to the hundreds seen in Tabuk in the northwest of the Kingdom recently and you can see how relatively poor for migrating raptors the Eastern Province is. Black Kites are normally seen singly in our area, although I have seen 15 together once only in the summer on Abu Ali Island, a site near to Deffi Park. As normal at least one of these birds showed signs of being a Black-eared Kite but this is yet to be proved conclusively.

Black-eared/Black Kites - Tabuk

Whilst birding the pivot irrigation fields near Tabuk in early October we found hundreds of Black Kites. Many birds will be on passage at this time of year but many more will saty throughout the winter. Some birds looked like typical Black Kites and others like the very similar subspecies Black-eared Kite. The Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey that is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia. The two sub-species, European Black Kite & Black-eared Kite are uncommon to rare migrants, mainly in the spring, and winter visitors to Saudi Arabia. European Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans - Breeds Central, Southern and Eastern Europe to Tien Shan and south to NW Pakistan. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Black-eared Kite Milvus migrans lineatus - Siberia to Amurland South around Himalaya to Iran, Northern India, Northern Indochina and Southern China; Japan. Northern inland birds migrate to East Persian Gulf coast and South Asia in winter. Recent DNA studies (Jeff A. Johnson, Richard T. Watson and David P. Mindell (2005) Prioritising species conservation: does the Cape Verde kite exist? Proc. R. Soc. B 272:1365–1371) suggests that the Black-eared Kite (M. m. lineatus), is not sufficiently distinctive to justify specific status. As molecular information is much more reliable in this species than in the Red Kite, the Black-eared Kite should be regarded a distinct allopatric subspecies. Another reason why lineatus and migrans are probably distinct sub-species is there is a large interbreeding zone in Central Asia, Siberia & Mongolia. These intergrades may well also occur in Saudi Arabia and as a result the Black Kite situation in Saudi Arabia is very complicated and many birds are often best left as unidentified to sub-species level.

Black Kites in Dhahran – Bird records by Paul Wells

Paul sent me an email yesterday saying he had been seeing Black Kites singly or a pair consistently in the last 10 days or so, but on 28 April he got a few distance shots of four birds together. This is a very high count for this species in the Eastern Province where birds are generally only seen singly, although I have seen 15 together once only. As normal these birds show signs of being Black-eared Kites but this is yet to be proved conclusively. I thank Paul for sending me the photos and allowing me to use them on my website.