Birds of Saudi Arabia: Desert Finch

Showing posts with label Desert Finch. Show all posts

20 February 2023

Winter species in Riaydh – Al Hair

Whilst birding Al Hair 10 February I saw a few common wintering species. This included Greater Spotted Eagle which favours the wet areas of the Al Hair river and occurs only from September to May. The White-throated Kingfisher which is a resident breeder and can be seen perched on overhead power lines and trees. A rarer species but still not uncommon was the Desert Finch which were seen in fields and on power lines in small numbers. Eastern Stonechat was seen in a couple of places along with Eastern Black Redstart. The pivot fields were quiet but had very large flocks of Spanish Sparrow and up to ten Western Marsh Harriers including a couple of male birds. Another bird of prey frequenting the pivot fields was a Steppe Buzzard. We failed to find any Streaked Weaver, which is normally common in the area, but it was dryer than normal so possibly this was the reason. The only other thing worth mentioning was a large group of well over one hundred Common Snipe, all of which flew before any photos could be obtained.

Desert Finch

Eastern Stonechat

Greater Spotted Eagle

Steppe Buzzard

Spanish Sparrow - female

Western Marsh Harrier

White-throated Kingfisher

21 January 2023

Desert Finch – Al Jouf

Whilst birding the Al Jouf area at the end of December I saw a few Desert Finch, which are mainly resident in Saudi Arabia. It is now regarded as a common breeding resident but was previously thought to be a scarce visitor to the northwest of Saudi Arabia until 1975. Since then the range has expanded dramatically due to increased agriculture and several areas have been colonized, including Riyadh, Hail, al-Jawf and Tabuk. Despite its name it is not a truly desert species and prefers cultivated areas with trees and bushes, especially orchards, as well as gardens and plantations, and can often be seen near the large pivot irrigation fields of the region where it occurs in the weedy edges of pivot-irrigated fields and dry scrub adjacent to farms. We saw a single bird, perched on some overhead power lines at one location and a male and female in some small vegetation just outside the bund of a large pivot irrigation field. This last bird finally gave me the opportunity to photograph the species in a more natural habitat that a razor-wire fence or over-head power line.

16 January 2020

Flock of Desert Finch – Dumat Al Jandal

The Desert Finch is mainly resident in Saudi Arabia. It is now regarded as a common breeding resident but was previously thought to be a scarce visitor to the northwest of Saudi Arabia until 1975. Since then the range has expanded dramatically due to increased agriculture abd several areas have been colonized, including Riyadh, Hail, al-Jawf and Tabuk. Despite its name it is not a truly desert species and prefers cultivated areas with trees and bushes, especially orchards, as well as gardens and plantations. It also occurs in the weedy edges of pivot-irrigated fields and dry scrub adjacent to farms. We saw a flock of about fifty birds, the first ones I have come across in Saudi Arabia, along a razor wire fence near a large pool in the desert. Birds were dropping down to drink for the pool and then flying back to the fence.