Saudi Aramco Environmental Protection Department and I went to an area
north of Jizan to ring birds in late June 2015. We first tried Either Mangroves
an area approximately 40 kilometres north of Jizan. We got to the site two
hours before first light and set five nets in the hope of catching and ringing
three key species. These were Mangrove White-eye sp, Mangrove Warbler and
Clamorous Reed Warbler. We wanted to get blood samples to try to identify
accurately the species/subspecies of the two warblers and try to close out the
mystery surrounding the White-eye as to whether it is a new species or a
currently know species in a new habitat of mangroves. We ringed at the location
for two days starting before first light and finishing around midday when it
became too hot and windy to continue ringing. We caught 37 birds in total
including four African Collared Doves, 28 Mangrove Reed Warblers, four Clamourous
Reed Warblers and one Mangrove White-eye sp. Many of the birds were extremely worn due to the time of year and harsh conditions they live in here in Saudi Arabia. The area we trapped in was about
500 metres by 50 metres showing the high population density of Mangrove Reed
Warblers at the site. We caught adult and juvenile birds showing breeding had
successfully taken place here in 2015. Blood samples were taken for DNA
analysis of Mangrove Reed Warbler, Clamourous Reed Warbler and Mangrove
White-eye sp so hopefully over time we will be able to classify the birds
correctly to species / subspecies.
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| African Collared Dove |
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| African Collared Dove |
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| African Collared Dove |
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| Clamorous Reed Warbler |
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| Clamorous Reed Warbler |
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| Mangrove Reed Warbler |