Tihama 
The Tihama coastal plain is well developed in Saudia Arabia between 
Jeddah and the Yemen border. Several species-specific NWRC projects 
are underway at three fairly widely separated sites. The Arabian Bustard 
Ardeotis arabs survives very tenuously and a protected area is being 
established in the vicinty of Qunfudah. Given habitat protection, it is 
hoped that the population may partially recover by recolonisation from 
areas across the Red Sea where persecution is perhaps not so intense. The 
breeding biology and feeding ecology of the Sooty Falcon Falco concolor 
is studied on some small mangrove-fringed nearshore islands near Al 
Lith, where approximately 35 pairs nest semi-colonially on the ground. 
During summer/early autumn 1992 an attempt is being made to survey 
most other islands in the Saudi sector of the Red Sea to estimate the 
overall population of this species. Within Saudi Arabia, the Helmeted 
Guineafowl Numida meleagris is confined to a single wadi system in the 
extreme south west corner of the country. Although numbers have been 
monitored irregularly over the last five years and almost certainly exceed 
1,000, we are only now beginning to investigate their ecology and the 
threats to this endangered population. 
Other Surveys 
Many projects could be listed in this section, but I will mention only three 
briefly. It has long been known that the majority of the African wintering 
population of the Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo probably passes 
through Saudi Arabia on migration. However, almost nothing is known 
of numbers involved, route taken and whether or not any staging posts 
are used. In spring 1992 a survey team visited the Hail/Jebel Aja' region 
in north-central Saudi to investigate crane migration. In two weeks, 
approximately 4,500 Demoiselle Cranes were counted. Preliminary 
observations indicated that they probably pass through the Kingdom 
rapidly without utilizing any feeding /staging posts although they do 
descend at dusk and roost on the ground in the vicinity of the Nafud 
Desert. More comprehensive coverage is planned from 1993. Casual 
observations suggest that substantial numbers of raptors migrate through 
the Kingdom. To date, only two sites have been covered systematically 
for reasonable lengths of time: Al Hada escarpment near Taif in autumn 
1991, and Hail in spring 1992. Future monitoring of these and other sites 
is anticipated. Finally, recent events in the Arabian Gulf have shown how 
important it is to have baseline waterfowl counts from coastal areas and 
knowledge of seabird breeding sites. As yet, waterbird populations of 
the Red Sea are very poorly known and over the last couple of years 
NCWCD has been establishing a mid-winter survey protocol for the area 
as part of the Asian Waterfowl Census. From 1993, NWRC will be fully 
involved in this project. 
Stephen F Newton, NCWCD/NWRC, PO Box 1086, Taif, Saudi Arabia 
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