Previously
the status of Savi’s Warbler in Saudi Arabia was thought to be a rare passage migrant but
records from our ringing site at Sabkhat Al Fasl have indicated that it is an uncommon passage migrant
from late February until May and from August to October. Some birds stay in the
same area for a few weeks in spring but there are no indications of birds
breeding. The earliest singing bird was heard on 6 March 2015 with one caught
and ringed 20 March 2015 in a different location. The latest spring bird trapped was caught and
ringed 18 April 2014, between a small reed patch and the main reedbeds. In the
autumn two were caught in the main reed patch 26 September and 24 October 2014.
The October record was late for the species as most birds are seen in
September. The subspecies of Savi’s Warbler that
occurs in the region is Locustella luscinoides fusca which is more olive
brown with paler under-parts and more obvious white tips to the under-tail
coverts than the nominate European form L l luscinodes making it look
more like a River Warbler L fluviatilis
although the white tips to the undertail coverts are narrower and less
contrasting than this species. L l fusca breeds in Turkey & Jordon
eastwards to central Asia including north and south Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
north-east Iran and probably north-west Afghanistan. They winter in northeast
Africa principally in Sudan & Ethiopia.
