Whilst ringing on 10 April 2015 we
re-trapped an adult Caspian Reed Warbler with a ring showing we had ringed the
bird before on 2 May 2014 at the same location. Interestingly on both occasions
the bird had a brood patch showing it was breeding at the location. Caspian
Reed Warblers have been noted as a breeding species here previously with up to
70 breeding pairs estimated, but this shows that the bird has bred in the same
place in consecutive years. The Caspian (Eurasian) Reed Warbler A. s. fuscus
is a common passage migrant and uncommon breeding species seen from early February to May and late July
to early November in Saudi Arabia. The species has been proposed as being
resident in the Eastern Province but this is not borne out by our ringing data,
where we only caught birds during migration and the summer months. Birds were first seen at
the site on 31 January when six singing birds were seen and numbers increased
over the next three months. All birds trapped and ringed were Caspian Reed
Warbler A. s. fuscus. Small
reed warblers with wing lengths as small as 61mm have been noted in Israel and
Riyadh in Saudi Arabia as well as Bahrain. These birds have in the past been
confused for Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum due to their
short wing length. We have also caught Reed Warblers with short wing lengths of
61mm on 2 May 2014 and one with a wing length of 60 mm on 10 April 2015 and it
would be interesting to find out where these birds originate from.
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| Caspian Reed Warbler |
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| Caspian Reed Warbler |
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| Caspian Reed Warbler |
