Whilst birding in the Taif area for the weekend of 3-4 Junly 2015 Phil
Roberts and I went to Al Atta where we heard a Dideric Cuckoo calling and saw
the bird perched in a tree as well as flying around the valley. This is an
extreme northerly record in Saudi Arabia with the previous most northerly
record I know of being near Abha some 450 kilometres to the south. The species
is currently regarded as a vagrant to Saudi Arabia although this is not the
case as quite a few records have occurred in recent years including one Phil
and I saw at the bottom of the Raydah Escarpment near Abha two weeks
previously. This species is obviously a scarce breeding summer visitor
extending its breeding range from Oman and Yemen into southwest Saudi Arabia.
Male birds are normally located by the clear emphatic whistle that rises in
pitch, “dee-dee-dee-diederik” such as this individual. They prefer semi-arid
thorn scrub and acacia savanna and are found in the highlands of the Asir
Mountains in Saudi Arabia from 1500 – 3000 metres above sea level.
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| Dideric Cuckoo |
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| Dideric Cuckoo |