Whilst birding Sabya Waste Water Lagoons on 7-8
July 2017 I saw and got good views of 13 Abdim’s Storks Ciconia Abdimii.
The birds were seen on the lagoons as well as it the nearby Sabya Rubbish Dump.
Abdim’s Stork is an uncommon resident breeding species of southwest Saudi
Arabia and occurs from Africa south of Sahara, and southwest Arabia. They breed
north of the equator, with most of the population spending the rest of the year
in eastern and southern parts of Africa. The male is slightly larger and they
have glossed purple and green upperparts with non-breeding adults having the
bare parts duller and immatures browner and duller still. They are normally
found in open grassland and also in areas of cultivation and often occur near
water. They mainly nest in villages as is the case in Saudi Arabia. The small
population of the Arabian peninsula, mainly in Yemen but including southwestern
Saudi Arabia, is at least partly resident in that region.
