Streaked Weavers nesting – Al Hair

A trip to the Al Hair river outside of Riyadh in late May resulted in us finding a nice colony of breeding Streaked Weavers. Freshly made nests were located with adult birds busy adding to them, with at least twenty nests found in a short visible area in the reed beds with up to 200 birds located. Streaked Weaver owe their origin to released or escaped captive birds with young heard in nests in July near Riyadh previously. This is one of the few areas where the species can be seen in Saudi Arabia and is the first time I have seen and photographed them in breeding plumage. It is very hot at this time of year, in this area, so arriving at sunrise is advisable to get the best light for photography as well as cooler temperatures is advisable. Breeding birds have been seen in the Eastern Province at the sewage lagoon of the King Fahd International Airport, 29 April 1989. Birds build nests here until they were destroyed by reed cutting machines and as far as I am aware have not nested again in the Eastern Province.

Streaked Weaver – Al Hair

Whilst birding Al Hair, near Riyadh recently I came across a large group of Streaked Weavers at the edge of a wetland area feeding in a pivot irrigation field. The group included males, females and juveniles, but all males were in non-breeding plumage. Birds were seen feeding in a mixed flock of birds including Red Avadavat, Arabian Golden Sparrows and Indian Silverbills. This species has been noted breeding in this area for the last twenty years at least but I had not seen them before so decided to drive to Riyadh early morning to get there at first light. The birds almost certainly originated from escaped cage birds but now are part of the Saudi Arabian breeding species avifauna. I also found a few Streaked Weaver nests in the tall reedbeds nearby showing that breeding still continues. The number of birds seen indicate the population is growing year on year but they still remain almost entirely restricted to this area of Riyadh. Other birds still breed in Qatif in the Eastern Province but numbers here are still very low although again have bred here for more than twenty years.

Streaked Weaver in Bahrain – Records by Jehad Alammadi

Jehad Alammadi sent me a photo of a Streaked Weaver that he took at Hamala. Jehad said he thought the bird had escaped but had seen lots of them, so presumably they have a self-sustaining population there now? This species is not seen in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where I birdwatch although birds are recorded in the Riyadh area in central Saudi Arabia. Jehad has very kindly allowed me to use his photograph on my website but the copyright of it remains with Jehad.