I received an e-mail a couple
of days ago from Mansur Al Fahad an active local birdwatcher from Riyadh. He
mentioned his birding friend Ali Al Qarni who lives in the southwest of the country between Al Baha and Abha , sent to
him some photos he had taken of Plain Nightjar found near the village he lives
in. After several observations and comparisons between Ali Khalifa (from UAE) and Mansur, we agree the
species is plain nightjar. Ali heard birds song like European Nightjar and we saw some pictures from BNHM from
Najran near the Yemen boarder that look very similar. It is great news that Ali
is an active birder from an area where I know of few birders and his records
will certainly add to the knowledge we have on Saudi Arabian birds as can be
seen from this record. Plain Nightjar is a scarce breeding summer visitor to
thorn scrub on the fringes of the Asir mountains and the Tihamah. I would like
to thank Manusr for supplying me with the information and to Ali for allowing
me to use his photos.
