Lappet-faced Vulture – Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area

Whilst in Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area we saw up to twenty Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotus. Lappet-faced Vulture is a scarce breeding resident in Saudi Arabia with other birds passing through in very small numbers on migration. Probably the best site in the Kingdom is Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area near Taif where there were 27 breeding pairs of Lappet-faced Vultures occur in the park. From 1992 to 2003 numbers increased from 6 to 37 pairs with nests widely scattered throughout the Protected Area which was established in 1989. It is thought the fence around the reserve and lack of access to the general public has allowed the species to increase in numbers with the closest nesting pairs only 500 metres apart. They tend to nest in flat topped Maerua crassifolia trees with the nest approximately 3-4 metres from the ground. The Lappet-faced Vulture is the largest of the old world vultures found in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula with the first record of this species in Saudi Arabia in 1947 located 125 km south east of Riyadh. The population size of this vulture in Saudi Arabia was estimated from available data to be probably in excess of 1000 individuals (Newton and Shobrak 1993).  The population is undoubtedly small enough for there to be serious concern for the conservation of the species in Saudi Arabia. In the neighbouring countries, a small breeding population has been known for some time in Oman and United Arab Emirates. It is believed that the birds in Israel and Arabia both belong to the negevensis subspecies and as the breeding population in Israel is now extinct, Saudi Arabia therefore contains the only viable population of the Arabian race of the lappet-faced vulture.

Lappet-faced Vulture breeding at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area – Near Taif

Lappet-faced Vulture is a scarce breeding resident in Saudi Arabia with other birds passing through in very small numbers on migration. Probably the best site in the Kingdom is Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area near Taif where there were 27 breeding pairs of Lappet-faced Vultures in the park in 2013. From 1992 to 2003 numbers increased from 6 to 37 pairs with nests widely scattered throughout the Protected Area which was established in 1989. It is thought the fence around the reserve and lack of access to the general public has allowed the species to increase in numbers with the closest nesting pairs only 500 metres apart. We saw two active nests on our visit with both nests with a single well grown young and both in flat topped Maerua crassifolia trees with one nest approximately 4.5 metres from the ground with the other at only about three metres. When the adults birds are not present at the nest the young bird stays very low and out of sight but we managed to photograph, very quickly, a young bird on the nest from the back of one of the rangers trucks. This bird was hatched in mid-February (16-18 February) and the eggs will have been laid at the end of December 2013 as they take 52 days on average from laying to hatching, making the youngster one month old. The birds nest on flat topped trees and build a huge nest right in the crown of the tree made from sticks (mainly Acaccia) and other material found nearby.

Birding Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area – Near Taif

I went birding at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area, a 2244 square kilometre Protected Area, managed by the Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA) and situated in Central Saudi Arabia on the Najd Plateau on 22 March. The Protected Area is entirely fenced and it is not possible to entre without permission. Birding was fairly slow with not many birds seen, but some very good ones included. We saw both the scarce reintroduced species, North African Red-necked Ostrich and Macqueen’s Bustard. We saw several groups of North African Red-necked Ostrich in different parts of the Protected Area including from the watchtower of one of the ranger stations. Most groups had both males and females in them but were very wary of us and never allowed close approach. The rangers even showed us an old nest of the Ostrich with a number of infertile eggs in that are twenty times bigger that a chicken egg. A single Macqueen’s Bustard was seen in flight and on the ground at great distance that was an amazing sight but unfortunately my photos are quite poor. Both of these species were new birds in Saudi Arabia for me and were soon joined by a third new species Lappet-faced Vulture of which we saw ten birds including six together thermalling of a small jebal within the Protected Area.

North African Red-necked Ostrich

North African Red-necked Ostrich

Abandoned North African Red-necked Ostrich Nest

Macqueen's Bustard

Lappet-faced Vulture

Other birds seen included a good number of House Sparrows around the ranger station along with two White-spectacled Bulbuls. An Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear and Pied Wheatear were all seen in very small numbers along with two Southern Grey Shrikes. Two Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse were seen flying over in the early morning and three more later in the day only the second time I have seen the species in Saudi Arabia. A few Greater Short-toed Larks and tens of Crested Larks were also scattered over the Protected Area and a single close view of a Short-toed Snake Eagle was also an amazing sight. A single Common Redstart and a Blackstart were located in the vegetation but otherwise birding was slow. Brown-necked Raven was one of the commonest sight in the Protected Area with birds seen in many areas.

Short-toed Snake Eagle