Little Owl - Sakaka

Whilst birding the Saka area recently Phin noticed a Little Owl perched on the side of the road at close range. Unfortunately, by the time we saw it, it had flown slightly further away and into the sun. The below photos are the only ones I got that are usable. Two subspecies of Little Owl occur in Saudi Arabia with Athene noctua saharae that occurs from northern and central Sahara Desert south to the African countries of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan, and east discontinuously into Arabian Peninsula occurring in the Abha area north to central Saudi Arabia. Its range overlaps with race Athene noctua lilith that occurs from Cyprus and inland Middle East from southeast Turkey south to Saudi Arabia where it occurs in northern and central Saudi Arabia. The overlap occurs in central Saudi Arabia at least, with Lilith occurring north to the boarders of Jordon, Iraq and Kuwait in the Kingdom. Lilith Owlet is an uncommon resident breeder in the Central Deserts, Hejaz, northern Hejaz and Najran as well as the Eastern Province where they are confined to broken escarpments and rocky outcrops in the desert north of Uray’irah. Athene noctua lilith is the palest race and is a very pale sand colour. Some authorities treat this as a separate species Athene Lilith from Little Owl with the name Lilith Owlet generally being used as the English name.

Lilith Owl and more near Tabuk – Bird records by Viv Wilson

Lilith Owl is an uncommon but widespread species in Saudi Arabia and one I have personally not seen in the Kingdom yet. They favour escarpment edges and rock formations such as the one that Viv photographed a pair of birds at near Tabuk. This area is also good for birds of prey and Viv photographed Egyptian Vulture a species becoming less common and more difficult to see away from its stronghold on the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea I the extreme southwest of the country. He also saw both Bonelli's Eagle and Common Kestrel here recently. I thank Viv for allowing me to use his photos on my website.

Lilith Owl

Lilith Owl

Egyptian Vulture

Bonelli's Eagle

Common Kestrel

Lilith Owlet near Zulfi – Bird records by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur Al Fahad sent me an e-mail a few days ago with a number of beautiful photographs of Lilith Owlet Athene (noctua) lilith that he had taken recently near Zulfi. He also sent me a photo of the habitat where he located one of the Owlets and mentioned he had seen them in the same area the year before with the photos below showing three different Lilith Owlets. This is a species I have not seen myself in Saudi Arabia, but looking at the photos I would really like to. I would like to thank Mansur for allowing me to use his excellent photos on my website. Lilith Owlet is an Uncommon resident breeder in the Central Deserts, Hejaz, northern Hejaz and Najran as well as the Eastern Province where they are confined to broken escarpments and rocky outcrops in the desert north of Uray’irah, including As-Sarrar, Abu Hadriyah, Nariya, Hanidh, Uray’irah and Judah. The (subspecies of) birds occurring in the region are Athene (noctua) lilith which is the palest race and is a very pale sand colour. Some authorities treat this as a separate species Athene Lilith from Little Owl with the name Lilith Owlet generally being used as the English name. Its range is from Cyprus and inland Levant from Sinai to south-east Turkey, Syria and the Arabian Peninsula.

Some bird records from Asir, Shedgum & Haradh from the 1980’s – Bird records by Cliff Peterson

Here are a few more of Cliff Peterson's photos from Saudi Arabia from the mid 1980's. These birds were photographed in Asir province, Shedgum and Haradh.

Lammergeier - This species (if still extant) is found in the Asir province and could be seen from Jeblel Soudah or vantage points along the Tuwaiq escarpment in SW Arabia.  Our experience was that presumably the same bird would appear late each afternoon and glide by our campsite at the edge of the escarpment. Photo taken 16 June 1985.

Spotted Sandgrouse - We only ever found this species at Haradh in the Eastern Province. These would come in from the desert after dawn and again before dusk to drink in the agricultural fields at Haradh.  Similar to most Sandgrouse, their distinctive call is heard before they come into view.  We had up to 300 birds in several flocks and recorded them in September, November, December, January, the only months we went to Haradh to camp in the desert.

Lilith Little Owl - We found this owl but a few times.  It is very reasonable to assume we under-counted this bird; as it is small and needs the right-sized cavity. This bird was located in Jebel Shedgum in February 1984.  We saw another at the Nariyah Substation 9 December 1983.

Trumpeter Finch - This species is widely distributed but thinly populated in arid regions from Azerbaijan across the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa to Morocco. There are small populations in southern Spain and the Canary Islands. In Arabia, it is almost exclusively in rocky areas away from developed areas nomadically following seed crops resulting from localized rains. Often it can be heard before being seen due to its distinctive call that sounds like a child's buzzing toy trumpet. This bird was photographed in Wadi Nisah in 1984.