'Pied' Brown-necked Ravens on the 
Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia 
Peter Symens 
The Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollis is the only member of the 
corvid family that occurs on the Farasan Islands in the southern Red Sea 
off Saudi Arabia. It is a widespread breeding bird on Farasan Kebir and 
Segid, the two main islands of the archipelago, where pairs and small 
flocks commonly scavenge around the villages (Jennings 1988; pers. 
obs.)- Over large parts of the islands trees are extremely scarce or 
completely lacking and road signs and traffic boards are the only 
available elevated roosting sites. These are frequently shared with 
Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus and Ospreys Pandion haliaetus. 
On the evening of 24 March 1990 1 noticed from a moving car a small flock 
of seven ravens preparing to roost on two road signs alongside the main 
road on Farasan Kebir. Amongst these were two strikingly coloured 
birds, having a large amount of whitish on the breast extending in a collar 
around the neck. They flew off as the car stopped and disappeared in the 
darkness. The next morning this small flock was relocated near Al- 
Hesen, a small settlement on the southwest side of the island, and was 
observed in more detail. 
Both 'aberrant 7 coloured birds showed an identical and sharply defined 
amount of white on the breast and collar, the extent of which was 
remarkably similar to the black and white pattern of the Pied Crow 
Corvus albus, a species which is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa from 
Senegal, Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Somalia southwards (Goodwin 
1986). Morphologically, the Pied Crow closely resembles the Brown- 
necked Raven, with similar long wings, legs and bill, a 'raven-type 7 
strongly decurved culmen and a rounded tail. However, the Farasan 
birds differed from this species by having the white collar and underpar ts 
interspersed and bordered by creamy and brownish feathers (see Fig. 1). 
Additionally, Hollom et al (1988) considered the Pied Crow to be 
generally smaller than the Brown-necked Raven, but both birds on the 
Farasans did not distinctively differ in size with the other five Brown- 
necked Ravens in the small flock, although one of the aberrant birds was 
noticeably smaller than the other. They also showed no differences either 
in general shape, length, curvature and depth of bill, or in behaviour 
from the other Brown-necked Ravens. However, Goodwin (1986) noted 
that the Brown-necked Raven shows much individual variation in size 
and still more so in length, curvature and depth of the bill. These 
characteristics probably overlap and are of very little value in separating 
the two species in the field. 
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