The
recorded avifauna of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reflects the position
of the Kingdom between the three distinctive biogeographical zones:
the Ethiopian to the west, the west Palaearctic to the north and
the Orient to the east. Also, the Kingdom is one of the most important
north-south and east-west migratory pathways of millions of birds.
432 species are recorded from Saudi Arabia belonging to 67 families.
About 180 species are known to breed in the Kingdom. Of the breeding
species 45 are believed to be of Ethiopian origin, 30 of Asiatic
origin and the reminder are of Palaearctic. Eight of the eleven
endemic birds of Arabia are present in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
These birds are predominantly temperate Palaearctic relicts. They
are largely confined to the more mountainous parts of the region,
and in Saudi Arabia they are confined to the Hejaz and Asir mountains
south of Medina (Jennings 1981).
Most
of the birds of Saudi Arabia have affinities with neighbouring zoogeographic
regions, however it is suggested that at least five species originate
in Arabia. These are: Arabian (Blanford's) warbler Sylvia l. leucomelaena,
Abyssinian sunbird Nectarinia habessinica, White-breasted white
eye Zosterops abyssinica, Ruppell's weaver Ploceus galbula and Golden-winged
grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus.
The
Straits of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, and Bab Al-Mandab, between
Yemen and Eritrea, neither is an obstacle to the migratory birds.
Some of those birds have already colonized, over-wintering and even
started breeding in the Kingdom. Agricultural expansion, extensive
irrigation practices and the formation of drainage ponds are helping
these bids to settle down.
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