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23 May 2016

White-crowned Wheatear – Shedgum Escarpment

White-crowned Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga is a locally common breeding resident in dry rocky areas that occurs Kingdom wide from the Hejaz north from Taif, Northern Hejaz, Asir south of Soudah and Najran, Tuwaiq escarpment and locally in the Eastern Province along the Shedgum Escarpment. At Shedgum Escarpment it is a locally uncommon breeding resident with birds often seen at the base of the escarpment where they favour scree slopes with sparse vegetation. Occasionally birds can be seen elsewhere in the Eastern Province on rocky areas with one seen in Dhahran Hills in 2004. As the Shedgum Escarpment is the closest place to where I live to see the species I went there recently to see if I could see and photograph any. Photographing the species is not very easy as the dark plumage makes it difficult but I did manage a couple of reasonable photos, but certainly not good. I saw about four birds in total in the stony area at the base of the escarpment with some birds flying up to the top of the escarpment and back down feeding all the time.
White-crowned Wheatear