Three flyways
About 499 bird species have been recorded in the Kingdom. Along the Red Sea coast some 1.5 million migratory soaring birds pass between nesting grounds in Europe and wintering areas in Africa, on what Saudipedia calls one of the world's largest migration paths. The Arabian Gulf coast draws waders, and in the north-east the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve lies on an autumn and spring route used by merlins, peregrines, lapwings and houbara.
Seasons differ by shore. Summer visitors arrive from Africa to nest on Saudi islands, with breeding in the Arabian Gulf running from late April through May and in the Red Sea from June into July. Near Jeddah, around 700 demoiselle cranes pass in regular flocks each spring and autumn, east of the Haramain road.
A northern stopover
In the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve more than 290 species have been recorded, about 88% of them migratory and together 58% of all bird species known in the Kingdom; 26 are on the IUCN Red List. Birds coming from Asia and Europe in autumn make it their first Saudi stop, and birds coming up from Africa in spring their last. Steppe eagles, eastern imperial eagles and houbara are among them.
Protecting the passage
Power lines, poaching, pollution, habitat loss and light pollution all threaten migrants. The National Center for Wildlife has set rules limiting illegal hunting, and in 1992 the Prince Saud al-Faisal Center for Wildlife Research in Taif began satellite-tracking the migration routes of birds of prey.