Whilst birding the Jubail area in late November we came across two eagles sitting on a power line mast. One was a fulvescens Greater Spotted Eagle, with this colour type being very uncommon making up a maximum of 3% of the birds seen in the Middle East. Fulvescens is more common in the Middle East than in any other area where it occurs, and when you think how uncommon the species is on a world scale there are not that many fulvescens about worldwide. Greater Spotted Eagle is a regular winter visitor to the Juabil area where up to 15 have been recorded on a single day, but only the occasional fulvensens type are noted, although they are seen most years. The other bird was an immature Eastern Imperial Eagle that was much bigger in size with a much larger bill. The Eastern Imperial Eagle is an uncommon winter visitor to Saudi Arabia with most records coming from the north of the country where they are generally seen inland rather than near the coast. The species breeds from Eastern Europe across Asia to China and winters in the Middle East, east Africa south to Tanzania, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and from Thailand to Korea. Currently Eastern Imperial Eagle is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List as it has a small global population and is likely to be undergoing continuing declines, primarily as a result of habitat loss and degradation, persecution and prey depletion. Eastern Imperial Eagle is much scarcer than Greater Spotted Eagle in Jubail but birds are seen almost every year. This particular Eastern Imperial Eagle has been around for almost a month which is unusual as normally they are only seen on single days.
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| Eastern Imperial Eagle |
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| Eastern Imperial Eagle |
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| Eastern Imperial Eagle |
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| Fulvescens Greater Spotted Eagle |
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| Fulvescens Greater Spotted Eagle |
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| Fulvescens Greater Spotted Eagle |
