Montane Nightjar - Tanoumah

Whilst looking for Nightjars and Owls near Tanoumah Phil Roberts and I located a minimum of two Montane Nightjars Caprimulgus poliocephalus flying around just after dark. We observed the birds continually flying around and landing on a lamppost for at least three hours after dark. The birds remained silent but one one occassio I heard a bird calling from some distance briefly. Mountain Nightjar was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1982 and has since been observed in every month of the year at the Raydah Escarpment indicating it is resident. Increased singing has been noted in March to May with birds seen between 2000-3000 metres although down to 1200 in cold winters. They only appear to occur along the western slopes and highlands of the Asir mountains from the Yemen boarder in the south through Al Baha to Al Shafa near Taif in the north. Where they occur they appear to be locally common.

Montane Nightjar at Tanoumah - Bird records by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur Al Fahad sent me some amazing nightjar photos recently and asked me to write about them and add them to my website. The first species is Montane Nightjar at Tanoumah that he saw and photographed in April 2015. The Montane Nightjar has only been recorded in the highlands of southwest Saudi Arabia from the Yemen boarder to Taif and was not recorded in Saudi Arabia until November 1982 when Stagg found one near Abha.  It has since been shown to be widespread and locally common on the western edge of the Asir and Hijaz mountains where it favours slopes with rocky outcrops often with juniper bushes. It is difficult to see and remains scarce throughout its range. Birds have been recorded in every month suggesting the species is a breeding resident in the country, but no actual breeding records have ever been recorded. Phil and I have also seen Montane Nightjar in Tanoumah in July 2014 & July 2015 as well as on the main road to the Raydah Escarpment, Abha in July 2013. I would like to thank Mansur for very kindly allowing me to use his photos on my website the copyright of which remains with Mansur.