Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti is a
common resident in rocky deserts and outcrops of all areas except the juniper
summits of the Hejaz and Asir and probably the sand seas of the Empty Quarter
and Nafud Desert. The best place to see the species close to Dhahran where I
live is the Shedgum Escarpment. As we have seen birds here before Phil Roberts
and I went to the Judah area, where there are similar escarpments to those at
Shedgum but less degraded and much less disturbed. Here we located tens of
Desert Larks often in pairs and almost all were of the pale subspecies azizi
which is the palest form of all the subspecies and matches almost perfectly with
the limestone rocks and scree of the escarpment. They prefer arid hills, stony
or rocky slopes with sparse vegetation and can often be located by their
constant calling. Birds were seen along the entire length of the escarpment and
although never common should be located if looked for carefully enough.
