14 May 2017

African birds at the bottom of the Raydah Escarpment - Abha

Whilst birding the lower areas of the Raydah Escarpment in late March I saw a number of African species. Birds seen included African Grey Hornbill, Violet-backed Starling, Black-crowned Tchagra, Bruce’s Green Pigeon and White-browed Coucal. Bruce’s Green Pigeon is an interesting species as it only eats the fruit of a single type of fig tree. No White-throated Bee-eaters or Grey-headed Kingfishers were located so maybe we were too early for these birds to have arrived back from Africa. A few passerine migrants were also seen including a number of Common Blackcap. Resident species seen included Blackstart as well as Arabian Green Bee-eater and endemics recorded included the scarce Arabian Waxbill and the commoner Arabian Serin.
White-browed Coucal
White-browed Coucal
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Bruce Green Pigeon
Common Chiffchaff
Common Chiffchaff
Tristrams Starling
Tristrams Starling 
Blackstart
Blackstart