Underparts: Under tail coverts huffish and contrasting with the pure white vent 
and belly. Throughout the observation period the bird kept walking away from 
us and no views of the breast were obtained. 
Bare parts: Large eye with bright yellow iris. Bill mostly black, though some 
yellow on the proximal third. Legs pale yellow. As the bird was running away 
from the car, no complete lateral view was obtained and no precise judgement of 
the size of the bill could be made. 
Discussion 
Both Spotted Thick-knee Burhinus capensis and Stone Curlew B. oedicnemus 
are knovm to occur in similar habitats in southwest Arabia (e.g. Jennings 
1981; Stagg 1985; Hollom et al 1988; pers. obs.). The former could easily 
be ruled out by the absence of black spots on the overall pale upperparts 
and by the presence of a large light wing panel. The complete absence of 
the distinctive white bar along the blackish band on the lesser coverts, the 
slimmer appearance with longer legs, the abundance of broad, whitish 
lines in the head pattern without dark spots aroimd the eyes, and the 
plain tail excluded Stone Curlew and justified the identification as 
Senegal Thick-knee (e.g. Cramp & Simmons 1983; Hayman et al. 1986; 
Hollom et al 1988). It should be noted that Stone Curlews of the north- 
eastern race B. o. harterti which winter in Arabia are paler, greyer, less 
heavily streaked, and more diffusely patterned on the wing coverts than 
birds of the nominate race and might therefore resemble the Senegal 
Thick-knee superficially (Cramp & Simmons 1983; Hayman et al. 1986). 
However, birds of this subspecies show at least to some extent the typical 
Stone Curlew wing pattern which was completely lacking in the bird 
near Ain Wakhra. 
The Senegal Thick-knee occurs from Egypt south and east to Sudan, 
Somalia and Kenya, and west through Chad and Zaire to Senegal. It 
occupies a wide range of habitats from sea level to uplands at about 
1,600m, including savannas, thorn-scrub, cultivated areas, rivers and 
lakes (e.g. Cramp & Simmons 1983). In Egypt it is generally regarded as 
a resident bird which rarely wanders far from water. However, due to 
this preference for moist places, the populations of the Afrotropical 
Region are known to undertake some dispersal in response to flood and 
drought conditions. This record is the first ever outside Africa. 
References 
CRAMP, S. AND SIMMONS, K. E. L. (eds) (1983) The Birds of the Western 
PalearcHc. Vol. IE. Oxford University Press. 
HAYMAN, P., MARCHANT, J. AND PRATER, T. (1986) Shorebirds: an 
Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Groom Helm, London. 
HOLLOM, P. A. D., PORTER, R. P., CHRISTENSEN, S. AND WILLIS, 1. (1988) 
Birds of the Middle East and North Africa. Poyser, Calton. 
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