Finsch’s Wheatear is a scarce but widespread, winter visitor to Saudi Arabia, mainly to the northern areas of the Kingdom. Migratory populations breed from Turkey to northern Pakistan and winter up to 1,000 km south from Palestine through northern Arabia to Pakistan. They prefer habitat of remote stony plains with sparse vegetation. We saw the bird in a stony area next to Lake Dumat Al Jandal where it was constantly on the move. It would occasionally sit up on high rocks for several seconds before moving off looking for food. This is only the third time I have seen the species in Kingdom and was a pleasant surprise as we had not seen many birds before locating this wheatear.
