Surprisingly, since 1987 there have been seven records in the southwestern 
part of Saudi Arabia and one in the northern region of the Kingdom: 
■ an adult bird at the reservoir of the Malaki Dam in Waki Jizan, Jizan Emirate, 
from 25 October to 6 November 1987 (P. Symens, A. Vareille, M. Shobrak and 
A. Rahmani); 
■ an adult at the same site from 20 November to 3 December 1988 (P. Symens); 
■ a juvenile bird, again at the Malaki Dam, on 18 January 1990 (P. Symens); 
■ remains of a shot adult were found at the Dawmat al-Jandl Reservoir, Al Jauf 
Emirate, in January 1990 (X. Eichacker and C. Wilme); 
■ an adult bird overflying Wadi Jawwah, Jizan Emirate on 2 January 1991 
(J. Hellmich); 
■ an adult bird near Al Fareiq village, Meccah Province, about five km from the 
coast, between Kiyad and Amq on 12 January 1992 (Rahmani, Shobrak & 
Newton 1994); 
■ an adult migrating southwards along the Al Hada Escarpment near Taif, 
Meccah Province in October 1992 (X. Eichacker); 
■ an immature bird at Malaki Dam on 1 February 1994 (P. Symens and M. 
Werner). 
Considering the low density of birdwatchers in the Kingdom, these 
recent records suggest that a small number of Pallas's Fish Eagles might 
winter regularly in western Saudi Arabia, especially in the southern 
Tihamah. As such, this region would represent the most southwestern 
wintering range for this rare and vulnerable species, since no records are 
known from northern Yemen (Brooks et al 1987) nor Africa (Brown et al. 
1982). 
In eastern Arabia Pallas's Fish Eagles were observed in marine habitats, 
including extensive intertidal flats and shallow lagoons. In contrast, the 
recent records in the western half of Saudi Arabia were further inland 
near freshwater habitats, except for the one bird nrugrating southwards 
along the northwestern tip of the Asir Escarpment. The reservoirs of the 
Malaki Dam and Dawmat al-Jandl contain large populations of introduced 
fish Tilapia sp., and attract large concentrations of wintering waterfowl, 
both being important food items for Pallas's Fish Eagle (e.g. Gallagher & 
Woodcock 1980). Until recently this type of habitat was virtually non- 
existent in Saudi Arabia, which might explain the lack of previous 
records in this region (e.g. Jennings 1981a; Stagg 1985). 
4 
