Every year thousands of pairs of Bridled Terns migrate to Saudi Arabia to breed on islands in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. Most stay well offshore making it a difficult species to see, as most islands are not accessible to birders and boat trips are difficult to arrange. A visit to the Farasan Islands allowed me to see the species for the first time in the Kingdom and as I saw it from a boat, we were able to get very close to a few birds. It has a status in Saudi Arabia as a very common breeding migrant and breeds on uninhabited, low, rocky or sandy islands with shade and forages at sea. We saw quite a few birds flying around feeding as well as the ones perched on offshore islands.
