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24 December 2018

Asir (Arabian) Magpie - Tanoumah

Whilst in the southwest on the Kingdom this summer I had a good number of sightings of Asir (Arabian) Magpie at two different locations. I saw a pair of birds at Tanoumah very early morning one day and followed them for a few kilometres hoping to get good photos. This species is not so easy to get close to but luckily ton this occasion I did manage to obtain a few very good photos. The species is now widely regarded a full species and is Saudi Arabias only true endemic as it is not found anywhere outside the Kingdom. Arabian Magpies are sedentary and localised and occur in upland valleys and wadis, of the Asir highlands between 1850–3000 m asl. P. asirensisisis a taxon with a very restricted range, confined to a small region within Saudi Arabia where numbers are decreasing probably because of heavy disturbance by tourism and perhaps changes in climate.
Asir (Arabian) Magpie