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18 April 2015

Returning breeding Caspian Reed Warbler – Sabkhat Al Fasl

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.
Caspian Reed Warbler
Caspian Reed Warbler
Caspian Reed Warbler
Caspian Reed Warbler
Caspian Reed Warbler
Caspian Reed Warbler