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.
