Rare and unusual birds seen in Saudi Arabia in first half of 2016

A minimum of three calling Harlequin Quail Coturnix delegorguei were heard and seen in a large vegetated field near Sabya 2 June. A Striated Heron Butorides striata was at Dammam Corniche seafront 12 February the fourth record for the Eastern Province. A Goliath Heron Ardea goliath was at KAUST 16 January to 14 May, a first for the area and well north of its normal range. The second Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel
for Saudi Arabia was at KAUST 14 May. A Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus was present near Tabuk 25 March. The wintering Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus remained at Rabigh Dam until 29 January at least and at least fifteen Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga
wintered at Sabkhat Al Fasl until March. A Booted Eagle Aquila pennata was at Sabkhat Al Fasl, 8 January a vagrant to the Eastern Province and another was at Tabuk 10 January where they are rare winter visitors. The second Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo
for KAUST was present 22 April.

Sociable Lapwing

425 Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus at Haradh 5 February where the largest recorded flock for Saudi Arabia. A Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus
was at Haradh west pivot fields 5 February and a Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus was in the Empty Quarter near Shaybah 8 March. Sixteen Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius
were at Haradh 5 February only the second record for the Eastern Province with three Caspian Plover Charadrius asiaticus in the same field on the same date. Two winter plumaged Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus at Sabkhat Al Fasl 26 February. A single Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus at Sabkhat Al Fasl 12 February only the third record for the Eastern Province and six at Al Hayer, Riyadh 3 June were also unusual. 

Pied Kingfisher

A juvenile Pharaoh Eagle Owl Bubo ascalaphus was at Sabkht Al Fasl 3 June an unusual site for the species with a pair with two young at Al Hayer, Riyadh 3 June. Two male Diederik Cuckoo Chrysococcyx caprius were at Al Mehfar Park, Tanoumah 30-31 May, one of which was trapped and ringed. An Egyptian Nightjar Caprimulgus aegyptius was at Sabkhat Al Fasl 8 January an unusual winter record. Two Collared Kingfisher Todirhamphus chloris were trapped and ringed at Either Mangroves, Jizan Province 1 June. A White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis was at Deffi Park, Jubail 22 January to 26 February with another at Sabkhat Al Fasl 4 March. Six of the wintering Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis were at Sabkhat Al Fasl until 4 March at least with one remaining until 15 April and another remaining at Al Hair, Riyadh until 22 April.

Woodlark (courtesy Phil Roberts)

Dead Sea Sparrow

Three ‘mangrove’ white-eye sp Zosterops (abyssinicus?) sp, an as yet unidentified White-eye, were trapped and ringed at Either Mangroves 1 June. A reeling Common Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia was at NADA Dairy Farm, Hufuf 8 April. A Black Scrub Robin Cercotrichas podobe near Sarrar 15 January was the fifth record of this species for the Eastern Province, although common in the west of the country. Two African Pipit Anthus cinnamomeus eximius were trapped and ringed in Al Mefah Park, Tanoumah 31 May & 1 June. Two Woodlark Lullula arborea near Sarrar, Eastern Province 15 January, were only the second record of this species for the Kingdom and a flock of eleven Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus at Sabkhat Al Fasl 26 February to 4 Mar chwere also only the second record for the country.

Dead Sea Sparrows still present – Jubail

The flock of eleven Dead Sea Sparrows found in the Jubail area on 26 February were still in the same general area on 4 March. This is only the second time this species has been seen in the Kingdom with the previous record also in the same area when a flock of 60 – 70 birds were seen at Jubail Golf Course on 13 November 1991. The species is a vagrant to most areas of Arabia with other records coming from Bahrain (one record) and the United Arab Emirates (two records) with no records from Qatar, Yemen or Oman. Kuwait has had more records since the first sighting in 1996 but they are rare even here. The closest place for this subspecies to come from is Jordon so it is a very good record. The birds are quite vocal and stay together by calling to each other. Whilst watching the group they split up into smaller groups but always return to make a single group after a short period. The makeup of the group of birds is five males and six females.

Second Saudi Arabian record of Dead Sea Sparrow - Jubail

Phil Roberts and I were birding the Jubail area on 26 February when I came across a small flock of sparrows along some reed bed edges. They flew a short distance and kept in a tight flock so I assumed they would be Spanish Sparrows that occur in winter in the area and do a similar thing. I looked at one of the birds and was more than surprised to see it was a male Dead Sea Sparrow as species neither Phil nor I had seen before. I alerted Phil and we saw a couple of females and then saw more males and females together and counted at least eleven birds in total and were of the nominate subspecies Passer moabiticus moabiticus as they showed grey instead of yellowish underparts. The flock was very mobile and did not allow any reasonable views or photos to be taken but it was clear they were Dead Sea Sparrows a species only recorded once before in the country. We followed the flock up and down the reed edge and eventually managed to get a few reasonable photos. The previous record of Dead Sea Sparrow was also in the same area when a flock of 60 – 70 birds were seen at Jubail Golf Course on 13 November 1991. These birds were assigned to the nominate subspecies Passer moabiticus moabiticus which breeds in southern Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, western Jordan, northern Syria and central Iraq eastwards to south-west Iran. The second subspecies yatii occurs in the Seistan region, on the borders of eastern Iran and south-western Afghanistan. The species is partially migratory, leaving its breeding areas in autumn. They appear to move south in Israel with vagrants seen in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (two records), Bahrain (one record) and the United Arab Emirates (two records) with no records from Qatar or Oman.