Birds of Saudi Arabia

18 February 2023

Arabian Green Bee-eater – Al Hair

Whilst birding the Al Hair area of Riyadh I came across some Arabian Green Bee-eaters. It has a status as a common breeding resident in central and western areas of the Kingdom. It is a common species in Al Hair and I see them every time I visit. This time I managed to take a few nice photos of them and at one point two were perched close together. This species is widely spread from the Riyadh area and central Saudi Arabia across to the Red Sea coast in the west of the Kingdom. There are two subspecies Merops cyanophrys cyanophryssouthern Israel, western Jordan and western & southern Arabia and Merops cyanophrys muscatensis central Saudi Arabia, eastern Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Oman. The birds from Riyadh are from central Saudi Arabia, which is the furthest east the species occurs in Saudi Arabia. Arabian Green Bee-eater is not difficult to see in the Riyadh area where birds, look to me, very similar to the birds seen in southwest Saudi Arabia which are M. c. cyanophrys although they are Merops cyanophrys muscatensis. The differences between the two subspecies are very subtle with the following the main points.

Merops cyanophrys cyanophrys

· Green colours less bronzy and more blue-tinged

· Forehead, eyebrow and throat blue

· Gorget deep and less well defined

· Tail streamers short and pointed

Merops cyanophrys muscatensis

· Paler

· More yellowish and less blueish above and below

· Breast band narrower

16 February 2023

Bank Myna – Old Diriyah

Whilst birding the Riyadh area in mid-February I visited a farm in Old Diriyah, where Ibrahim Alshwamin had informed me Bank Myna occurred in a small flock with Common Myna. Bank Myna is a species I had not seen previously in the Kingdom so was keen to see if I could locate them. It is not easy entering Diriyh at present due to the ongoing improvement works in the area and many roads are closed. We eventually reached the farm at midday and after asking the owner if I could walk around and take photos I tried to locate the birds. Looking from the roadside at the edge of the farm proved fruitless so I entered the farm and eventually saw few birds feeding near the small animal enclosure. Other birds were seen perched in large palm trees and others feeding on the ground in the crops. They were not easy to get close to and would fly very quickly once they noticed you. I probably saw at least ten to fifteen birds and did manage to get a few decent photos which are shown below. Bank Myna is an exotic species, occurring naturally from Pakistan to Bangladesh, has been sold as a cage bird for decades in markets in the Arabian Gulf. Feral escapees were first recorded in Saudi Arabia in Dhahran in 1984 with the second record was in Riyadh in 1989. Currently, Bank Myna distribution is recorded in Al-Qatif and Ras-Tanura as well as Riyadh and Jeddah. It is possible that the cause of this limitation in Bank Myna numbers and distribution is because of the unparalleled success of the Common Myna. The latter was first recorded successfully breeding in the Eastern Province in late 1970 but currently, the Common Myna is seen in almost all cities in the Kingdom. It has a status in Saudi Arabia as a rare breeding resident with small populations in Qatif and Riyadh. Habitat: Open country with trees, including parks and gardens, plant nurseries, croplands, sprinkler fields, irrigation ditches, animal pens and especially agricultural areas with traditional wells, where it is often near humans and rarely far from water.

14 February 2023

Various Herons – Dhahran Waste Water Lake

I visited the Dhahran Waste Water Lake at the weekend and found a lot of herons as always. The common herons are Western Great Egret, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Squacco Heron and Western Reef Heron. All of these species were present but also seen were a Purple Heron and two adult Black-crowned Night Heron. I see the Nigh Herons occasionally, but they normally stay well hidden in the reeds and pools so normally just see them in flight, as was the case this visit.

Western Great Egret

Purple Heron

Grey Heron

Indian Reef Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron - adult

Birding the Judah and Hanidh areas

In late January Phil Roberts and I set out early to go to Judah and Hanidh. We stopped at Judah first, but it was very slow going without a bird being seen for the first thirty minutes excluding feral Rock Dove. The pivot fields that used to attract a lot of birds to this area are now dismantled and the vegetation around the bottom of the escarpment is either dead or dying and this is even after a lot of heavy rain in recent weeks. We did eventually see Desert Lark and Pale Crag Martin, two common birds in the area and as always in winter Desert Wheatear and Eastern Morning Wheatear. This is probably to best site to see the later species in the Eastern Province with birds being very confiding when found. We moved on Hanidh in the hope of seeing more birds with the total species count from Judah amounting to nine. We went to a couple of large pivot irrigation fields a couple of which we gained permission to look around. Best birds seen were nine Common House Martin, a very early migrant species in KSA, as well as European Stonechat, Daurian Shrike, Tawny Pipit, a single Northern Lapwing, several Eurasian Skylark, Asian Desert Warbler & Menetries’s Warbler. Whilst driving along a road we saw a single Steppe Eagle in flight, which along with a single Common Kestrel were our only birds of prey.

Desert Wheatear

Eastern Morning Wheatear

Steppe Eagle

Tawny Pipit

Asian Desert Warbler

12 February 2023

Increasing numbers of Water Pipits – Dhahran Hills

Birding the football and cricket fields in Dhahran Hills recently produced more than fifty Water Pipits. This species is a common winter visitor occurring from October until April and were happily feeding on the short grass of the football fields. Although they are common in the Eastern Province I have never seen this number together in Dhahran where less than five are normally seen. As I could drive the car close to the pitch, I was able to get close to a few different birds. Most were in the centre of the football field but a few were closer to the field edge, allowing some close-up photos to be taken. Also feeding on the field were several White Wagtail and a single Red-throated Pipit, which kindly moved from the centre of the football pitch to close to the edge for better photos.