Plain Nightjar – Abha area

Whilst birding the Abha area I found at least two Plain Nightjar. Originally one was flushed from a wadi bottom and flew a short distance to a raised rocky area. One trying to locate the bird it flew again and this time I managed to see approximately where it landed. Eventually I located the bird but it was well hidden and difficult to photograph. Later a bird was seen by my daughter, who said it had flown into a nearby tree, where I found it sitting on a branch. It later moved to another tree where better photographs were possible. This is the first time I have seen Plain Nightjar in the daytime. The Plain Nightjar is a migratory bird breeding in the summer in Saudi Arabia. They breed in Africa (from Mauritania to Eritrea and Somalia) as well as southwestern Arabia, with the Arabian birds wintering in Africa. It is an uncommon breeding migrant seen from Taif sout to Malaki Dam Lake in Jizan. They have been seen in dry, rocky, mostly bare hills with some scattered trees and scrub where they have been seen up to 2500 metres above sea level.

Plain Nightjar – Abu Arish

Whilst birding the Abu Arish area last summer Phil Roberts and I spent some time after dark looking for owls and nightjars. We heard a single calling Nubian Nightjar but could not locate it so went driving around the nearby tracks. Here we managed to see good numbers of Plain Nightjar with more than twenty birds seen catching insects and alighting on the dusty tracks. The Plain Nightjar is a scarce breeding summer visitor to the southwest where it occurs in Saudi Arabia from the Yemen boarder northwards to Taif. Where ideal conditions occur in can be locally common with several birds seen close together, such as the ones we saw near Abu Arish. They occur from 500 – 2500 metres and favour dry rocky hillsides and hilltops that have only scatter acacia trees. The bottom photo is a Nubian Nightjar taken at the same site showing the plumage and colouration differences between this species and Plain Nightjar

Nubian Nightjar

Plain Nightjar at Abha - Bird records by Mansur Al Fahad

The second species Mansur Al Fahad photographed and sent to me was Plain Nightjar that he saw near Abha in July 2015. The Plain Nightjar is a scarce breeding summer visitor to the southwest where it occurs in Saudi Arabia from the Yemen boarder northwards to Taif. Where ideal conditions occur in can be locally common with several birds seen close together. They occur from 500 – 2500 metres and favour dry rocky hillsides and hilltops that have only scatter acacia trees. Phil and I saw at least two Plain Nightjars near Taif in July 2015, in a wadi with bare ground but a lot of vegetation along the side, with other birds seen between Najran and Al Baha during the same year. 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.

Plain Nightjar in the Tanoumah area – Bird record by Khalifa Al Dhaheri

The below photographs were taken by Khalifa Al Dhaheri in the Tanoumah area of the Asir mountains at about 2100 metres above sea level in early June 2015. Initially I thought the birds were Montane Nightjars but on closer inspection changed my mind to Plain Nightjar. As a result I sent the photos to Nigel Cleere who wrote the main Nightjars book and he replied with the following “The photo appears to be of Plain Nightjar C.innornatus, although it does seem to be a particularly well marked individual. Many are much plainer on the upperparts, especially on the wing coverts.” Plain Nightjar has been seen much more frequently this year in Saudi Arabia from Abha north tot Taif. Phil Roberts and I heard Montane Nightjar calling one night in June 2015 in the area this bird was seen suggesting that both species occur in the area. I am grateful t both Khalifa for allowing me to see and use his photos on my website and to Nigel Cleere for helping clarify the identification.

Plain Nightjar

Plain Nightjar

Plain Nightjar an addition to my Saudi Arabian list - Taif

Whilst birding in Taif for the weekend of 3-4 July 2015, Phil and I were sitting in the car eating Iftar when a Nightjar flew across in front of the car and appear to land on some stony ground nearby. We did not want to disturb the bird so waited for it to get completely dark and went looking for the bird by torchlight to see if we could see its eye shine. Unfortunately we could not locate the bird so decided to try a short blast of Plain Nightjar call. Immediately two birds responded and flew around our heads for a minute or so giving amazing views in the torchlight indicating they were Plain Nightjars and this combined with plumage details confirmed the identification. They then flew off and landed out of sight. There was no possibility of photographing the birds as despite an hour or searching we could not see the birds on the ground although did see them on three more occasions in flight. The photograph below was taken in Saudi Arabia by Ali Al Qarni who has kindly allowed me to use it on my website. This is an under recorded species in Saudi Arabia, and an addition to my Saudi Arabian list and is probably a breeding summer visitor to the southwest from Taif south to the Yemen border. The Plain Nightjar occurs from southern Mauritania and northern Senegal east to Eritrea, northwest Somalia and northwest Kenya, and southwest Saudi Arabia south into Yemen. They Winter from Senegal and Liberia across to southwest South Sudan and possibly southwest Ethiopia and Tanzania. The male has white spot on four outermost primaries and broad white tips to two outermost tail feathers whilst the female has tawny wing spots and lacks white in tail. Their preferred habitat is mainly barren lowlands inland of Asir Mountains, but also rocky terrain at higher altitudes where they have been recorded from sea-level to 1800 metres.

Plain Nightjar in Asir Mountains – Bird records by Ali Al Qarni & Mansur Al Fahad

I received an e-mail a couple of days ago from Mansur Al Fahad an active local birdwatcher from Riyadh. He mentioned his birding friend Ali Al Qarni who lives in the southwest of  the country between Al Baha and Abha , sent to him some photos he had taken of Plain Nightjar found near the village he lives in. After several observations and comparisons between Ali  Khalifa (from UAE) and Mansur, we agree the species is plain nightjar. Ali heard birds song like European Nightjar  and we saw some pictures from BNHM from Najran near the Yemen boarder that look very similar. It is great news that Ali is an active birder from an area where I know of few birders and his records will certainly add to the knowledge we have on Saudi Arabian birds as can be seen from this record. Plain Nightjar is a scarce breeding summer visitor to thorn scrub on the fringes of the Asir mountains and the Tihamah. I would like to thank Manusr for supplying me with the information and to Ali for allowing me to use his photos.

Al Mehfar Park near Tanoumah – Bird records by Khalifah Al Dhaheri

Al Mehfar Park area is a location near to Tanoumah where we saw a lot of very good birds last year. Khalifah spent some time here and also one evening where he located Arabian Scops Owl just as we had done the year previously. Khaliufah managed to photograph the two Plain Nightjars which is something we failed to do last year, although we did see Montane Nightjar and also saw or heard seven Arabian Scops Owls as well as hearing Philby's Partridge and Arabian Partridge. Also seen were Eurasian Griffon, two Little Swifts, three Green Bee-eaters, five Pale Crag-Martins, two Yemen Warblers, two Gambaga Flycatchers, two Yemen Thrushes, eight Tristram's Starlings, three Palestine Sunbird, Long-billed Pipit, seven Yemen Linnets, two Yemen Serins, five House Sparrows and five Rueppell's Weavers. Khalifa has very kindly allow me to reproduce some of his excellent photos below.

Montane Nightjar

Yemen Warbler

Yemen Warbler