Lesser Flamingo - Jizan

Whilst birding the coast just south of Jizan in July we went to the location where we found 100 Lesser Flamingo in 2018. Birds have been present here continually since this date. This trip we saw well over 600 birds, but the high humidity and temperatures made counting very unpleasant so no accurate number was obtained. The species was a vagrant to Saudi Arabia prior to these records but they are now a scarce visitor. There are a number of nests present in the area that were made by the Lesser Flamingos over the last three years , as can be seen in two of the below photos, the first breeding attempt for the Kingdom but no young or eggs have ever been seen so breeding has not be confirmed yet. The large numbers of birds may be due to the large-scale disturbances in Yemen pushing them into Saudi Arabia? The Lesser Flamingo are always associated with a lesser number of Greater Flamingo making a spectacular sight.

Saudi Arabia largest ever gathering of Lesser Flamingo - Jizan

Whilst birding the coast just south of Jizan we saw a huge flock of Lesser Flamingo’s totaling over 1600 birds. The species was a vagrant to Saudi Arabia until a year ago but with good numbers have been seen in the last two years, maximum flock size of 200 birds. With this enormous gathering, the largest flock ever to be recorded in the Kingdom, they are now a scarce visitor. There are a number of nests present in the area that were made by the Lesser Flamingos, the first breeding attempt for the Kingdom but no young or eggs have ever been seen so breeding has not be confirmed yet. The large numbers of birds may be due to the large-scale disturbances in Yemen pushing them into Saudi Arabia?

Lesser Flamingos – Jizan

Whilst birding the coast just south of Jizan with Phil Roberts we saw several small flocks of Flamingo’s totaling over 50 birds. The species is a vagrant to Saudi Arabia although good numbers have been seen in the last two years maybe due to the large-scale disturbances in Yemen pushing them into Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s largest flock of Lesser Flamingo – Jizan

Whilst birding the coast just south of Jizan with Phil Roberts we came across a large group of Flamingo’s. There were at least 500 Greater Flamingo and a minimum of 100 Lesser Flamingo. As the birds were continually on the move it was difficult to get an accurate count but the highest we achieved was 105. The species is a vagrant to Saudi Arabia and I know of only five pervious documented records of the species with one Jizan Harbour, 24 June 1984, amazingly an immature on the Riyadh watercourse on 10 June 1988, 50 at Jizan Bay December 1999, 10 birds flew south just north of Al Birk in May 2002 and 20 at an inland pool, 1 kilometre north on the Yemen boarder, south of Jizan 6 February 2015. Our group was at least twice the count of the next largest group making it an extremely important record. The birds were very nervous but we managed to creep along an earth embankment and sit at the end at a distance of several hundred metres and the birds remained feeding although constantly on the move. At the first disturbance they all took to the air and disappeared but we stayed photographing and watching them for more than an hour.