Whilst birding the Jubail area in
late May I came across two European Rollers of which one I was able to
photograph and is shown below. Saudi Arabia has three species of roller on the
country list. These are Indian Roller Coracias
benghalensis a vagrant, Abyssinian Roller Coracias abyssinicus a breeding resident of the southwest region of
the Kingdom and European Roller Coracias
garrulus a common passage migrant from March to May and again from mid-July
to late September when juveniles are also seen along with adults. Birds are
regularly seen in the Eastern Province in all areas but are not particularly
common in the Jubail area. They are seen almost every year in both spring and
autumn in very small numbers at this location but they are always good to see.
