Kingdom : Birds, Thrush

Entirely black with yellow bill, though 1st year males show brown flight feathers and yellow and dark bill.Female dark brown with all dark bill and slightly paler throat and breast with dark mottling (when seen from close). Juvenile similar to female but shows more mottling to underparts. Superficially resembles Starling but has longer tail and […]

Kingdom : Birds, Bunting

Resembles a bright version of Ortolan Bunting. Male has bright blue-grey head and breast band framing rusty orange throat, rufous rump, a rufous-buff vent and undertail coverts. Belly orange-chestnut, blackish brown tertials with clear-cut rufous-chestnut notched fringe. Female duller, often with traces of ash-grey on head, some grey on streaked breast. Compare with Ortolan Bunting.

Kingdom : Birds, Bunting

Medium -small bunting with longish bill and much rufous in plumage. Male unmistakable with black head broken by bold white supercilium and nape spot, bright red nape merging on sides of neck with rusty breast band. Flanks with extensive rusty streaks, rump rusty red. Female has less blackish head with paler median crown-streak and ear […]

Kingdom : Birds, Bunting

Small rufous coloured bunting with orange-yellow lower mandible, and rufous edged outer tail feathers, and thin streaks on upperparts and wing coverts. Male has a dark ash-grey and white striped head, throat and upper breast with steel-grey and black speckles. Upperparts, wing coverts, lower breast and belly are bright rufous. Female duller with much more […]

Kingdom : Birds, Buzzards and Falcons

The main race that occurs in the region is the highly migratory Steppe Buzzard, B. b. vulpinus, which is slightly smaller with narrower, more pointed wings and longer tail compared with Western European birds of the race B. b. buteo, which are rare.Three types occur: fox-red, grey-brown and blackish (scarce); intermediates are frequent. Fox-red and […]

Kingdom : Birds, Finches and Sparrows

A medium-sized finch. Male is easily identified by blue-grey head, chestnut back, pinkish breast and 2 white wing-bars. Female is more nondescript but can be told by white wing-bars, white outer tail feathers and brownish to olive brown upperparts. Undulating flight with wings closed every few beats. Feeds mainly on ground where it moves rather […]

Kingdom : Birds, Crake

Smaller than Spotted Crake and separated by uniform grey underparts (adult male) and heavily barred undertail-coverts. Female has brown-buff underparts, white chin and throat and some grey on cheeks and supercilium. Juvenile lacks grey head pattern and has stronger flank-barring than adult. Hard to see, but often walks on floating vegetation.

Kingdom : Birds, Crane

Big and majestic when walking slowly on ground. Huge in flight; shape resembles White Stork (though slightly bigger and shorter-billed), but grey plumage contrasting with black flight-feathers, black head and upper neck, and white stripe from eye down along neck, are obvious features. Red band above eye visible only at closer range. Looks ‘bushy’ at […]

Kingdom : Birds, Cuckoo

A large cuckoo with slight crest, very long tail and rather fast, shallow wing-beats. Unmistakable with grey upperparts, white-spotted coverts and white underparts. Juvenile is dark brown above with blackish head, white-spotted coverts and showing distinctive chestnut primaries (above and below) in flight.

Kingdom : Birds, Cuckoo

Size of Common Cuckoo and easily told by distinctive black and white plumage, long graduated tail and crest; conspicuous white wing-patch in flight (unlike any other cuckoo). A rarer black form occurs (which also shows white in wing). Juvenile is sooty above with dirty white underparts and small crest.

Kingdom : Birds, Lapwings and Plovers

Rather dark, brownish plover recalling non-breeding European Golden in general outline, but smaller; additionally white or buffish supercilia, meeting in a ‘V’ on nape, and narrow white or pale upper breast band are distinctive features in all plumages. Adult breeding female (male duller) has striking white supercilium and throat contrasting with blackish cap and greyish […]

Kingdom : Birds, Duck

In flight it resembles a small female Pintail, having a fairly long neck, wings and tail. On water it is identified by pale plumage, dappled dark and cream with dark oval patch around the eye in otherwise pale head with long black bill. Head appears large and rounded with steep forehead and, in adult, a […]

Kingdom : Birds, Eagle

Two phases. Size of Buzzard, but outline and wing-position close to Black Kite; tail square-cut. More ample deep-fingered wings than Buzzard. Pale phase identified by creamy white underparts with contrasting blackish flight-feathers, kite-like band on innerwing above, pale scapulars and upper-tail-coverts and diagnostic small white spot at base of neck, seen on front-view. Dark phase […]

Kingdom : Birds, Buzzards and Falcons

Male has a dark crown, mantle and leading edge to wing with white underwing-coverts. Female white below except for warm buff thighs and streaked breast, boldly barred flanks and lightly spotted underwing-coverts; dark crown and short moustache contrast with white cheeks. Crown is dark grey.

Kingdom : Birds, Buzzards and Falcons

Resembles Peregrine in outline and flight but slightly narrower based wings (male) give impression of longer tail. Adult separated from Peregrine by rufous nape and rear eyebrow, narrower moustache and larger pale cheek-patch, almost reaching eye; more creamy, less barred underparts,and often with dark ‘comma’ on greater primary coverts; upperparts paler blue-grey, more often with […]

Kingdom : Birds, Buzzards and Falcons

Size of Peregrine but resembles Saker in plumage and shape; long wings with ample hand, slightly blunt-ended when soaring; tail relatively long. Adult separated from most Sakers by barred, greyish upperparts, including distinctly barred uppertail, more contrasting head-pattern of black upper-forehead band, clear-cut narrow black eye-stripe, always conspicuous moustache and with crown unstreaked creamy buff, […]

Kingdom : Birds, Buzzards and Falcons

Largest falcon of the region with wing-span of female Buzzard. Like Lanner in outline, but larger, and heavier-chested. Separated from Lanner by combination of whitish crown (sometimes confined to nape), unbarred Kestrel-like contrast above, less distinctly barred uppertail, poorly developed moustache and less contrasting head pattern (diffuse dark eye-stripe, no dark forehead-band); whitish supercilium often […]

Kingdom : Birds, Finches and Sparrows

Pale greyish buff finch with striking wing pattern and short black bill. Flight feathers mostly black with white edges and pink panel on coverts and base of secondaries. Male has black lores and bill base. Female drabber with less pink, black and white in wing, and lacks black face-patch. Juvenile has straw coloured, dark tipped […]

Kingdom : Birds, Goose

Smallest duck to occur in the region. Short-neck, and short, stubby, goose-like bill, round body with high rear end on water. Male unmistakable with white head, neck and underparts with black cap, eye and band across white breast. Black back with greenish and purple gloss. Female is a drabber version of the male. Flight is […]

Kingdom : Birds, Goose

Slightly larger than a Ruddy Shelduck, has black flight feathers , green speculum and striking white forewing and underwing coverts. Otherwise brownish buff, with variable brownish or greyish upperparts, pale fore-neck and face with prominent dark eye patch, dark collar and belly patch. Legs are long and pink.

Kingdom : Birds, Egrets and Herons

Very large with long legs and heavy bill. Resembles Purple Heron in plumage but is twice the size. Distinctive features of adult are rich chestnut head and hindneck, bluish grey upperparts and rich chestnut underparts and underwing coverts. Told from Purple Heron by large size, stouter head and neck, lack of any black on crown, […]

Kingdom : Birds, Crake

Rail-like and mostly seen walking on floating vegetation on very long toes. Adult breeding has long black down-curved tail, chocolate-brown body, striking head marks with white face and fore-neck, golden-yellow hindneck, edged black; white wings with black tips are very conspicuous in flight. In non-breeding plumage tail is short, underparts turn white, but a dark […]

Kingdom : Birds, Kingfisher

Large, unmistakable brightly coloured kingfisher with enormous red bill, dark brown head and belly, large white ‘bib’, brilliant turquoise-blue upperparts and black forewing. In its fast straight flight shows conspicuous white primary-patches. Rather noisy; often perches on wires (but can sit well hidden) looking for prey on ground, which is often taken in shrike-like manner.

Kingdom : Birds, Kite

Size of a large Kestrel, but appears larger in flight. Easily identified by combination of black primaries on white under surface and large black patch on forewing, in otherwise pale grey upper surface with a whitish tail. Juvenile darker and dirtier above with thin white line on greater coverts. Well protruding, broad head, shortish tail […]

Kingdom : Birds, Sandpiper

A large knot of stocky build, tapering at rear. In winter plumage (when most likely to be seen in the region) told by long, decurved bill with heavy base, large greyish spots on underparts, faint supercilium (caused by more extensive greyish lores) and obvious tail pattern. White rump/ uppertail-coverts contrasting with dark upperparts and tail; […]

Kingdom : Birds, Cuckoo

Unmistakable cuckoo-like bird with relatively thick bill, short wings and rather long tail. Male black with bluish gloss and bright yellow bill. Female has drab brawn upperparts, thinly streaked and spotted white; whitish throat heavily streaked dark brown, rest of underparts densely barred with dark brown and buff; dark tail with many thin whitish bars. […]

Kingdom : Birds, Thrush

Resembles Blackbird but instantly told by white breast-crescent and pale fringes to wing feathers which give “frosty-winged” appearance in flight.Female dark brown with obscure buffish breast-crescent, pale fringes to wing feathers and to feathers of underparts, giving scaly appearance. Fairly shy but will sit prominently in open.

Kingdom : Birds, Owl

Unmistakable when perched and seen well, with long ear-tufts (though sometimes invisible when relaxed); facial disc noticeably warm buff with striking white divide and orange eyes. Flight has jerky, fairly stiff wing-beats with glides on level (sometimes slightly raised) wings. The wings are long and slightly curved with a dark carpal-patch above with orange base […]

Kingdom : Birds, Owl

Appearance very close to European Scops, but paler sandy grey above without white spots on crown or hindneck, greyer below with black streaks more sharply demarcated, being the only distinctive plumage feature (European Scops has black streaks more broken by vermiculations and paler blotches below, submerged by darker groundcolour); iris yellow. Juvenile has underparts completely […]

Kingdom : Birds, Pelican

Huge bird with a large wingspan. Beak shape makes it easy to differentiate from other birds. Adult is white with contrasting solid black flight feathers. Flight consists of slow wingbeats followed by a glide.

Kingdom : Birds, Pipit

Large robust pipit. Separated from sandier, smaller, adult Tawny by longer tail, legs and bill, very upright stance, prominently dark-streaked grey-brown upperparts, streaked breast and characteristic call. More undulating flight and longer tail give more wagtail-like flight than Tawny. Frequently hovers just before landing. On ground wags tail less frequently than Tawny.

Kingdom : Birds, Duck

Plump, Mallard sized, diving duck, but often behaving as a surface feeder, sitting high on the water. Male diagnostic with large red head and paler erectile crest, red bill, black breast and white flanks. Eclipse male resembles female but with red bill. Female drab brown with pale grey cheeks contrasting with dark crown. Dark bill […]

Kingdom : Birds, Robin

Unmistakable brown chat with diagnostic orange-red face and breast; plump body, large dark eyes and short wings. Juvenile, which lacks red breast, is brown, distinctly spotted buff above and below, (attains adult plumage by end of summer). Usually hops close to ground in shadow (but often sings from high perch). Upright stance, rather tame and […]

Kingdom : Birds, Roller

Identified at all ages in flight by large, translucent pale turquoise-blue primary-patch (both surfaces) and pale turquoise-blue tail-feathers (except centrals) with clear-cut dark blue band at tip and base (seen when tail spread). Wing-tip clearly blunter than in European Roller. When perched, lightly white-streaked neck, throat and breast are vinous-cinnamon (turquoise-blue in European Roller) and […]

Kingdom : Birds, Grouse

Elegant and dark especially in flight with diagnostic all-dark underwing continuous with dark chestnut belly, merging into paler breast and buffish yellow head in male. Female shows black-spotted breast above the black bar; male has golden wings with some dark barring, female narrowly vermiculated blackish upperparts, and yellowish buff head; both sexes show elongated tail […]

Kingdom : Birds, Shrike

Plump-bodied, long tailed and large headed shrike. Adult has a short square-ended tail, wide black forehead band which reaching fore-crown , grey rump, whitish upper tail coverts, white tail sides, and large white mirror at base of primaries base appearing as conspicuous band in flight. Female is duller than male. Juvenile has rufous tail and […]

Kingdom : Birds, Finches and Sparrows

Small, finely built finch. Male yellowish green with black forehead and chin, broad yellow wing-bar, sides of tail and rump, particularly obvious in flight. Female olive-brown above, white below with a tinge of yellowish green which, together with yellow in wings, tail and rump identity it. Lacks black on head of male. Back and flanks […]

Kingdom : Birds, Skua

Body size of Black-headed Gull but wing-span close to Arctic Skua. Resembles pale and rather grey Arctic but told by elongated, long, flexible central tail-feathers (16–24 cm), lack of breast band, white forebody, gradually darkening towards rear, smaller white primary-patch above, pale greyish upperparts contrasting with blackish secondaries and, largely, pale blue-grey legs. Juvenile variable […]

Kingdom : Birds, Hawk

Similar to Eursian Sparrowhawk in plumage, but longer, narrower, less curved wings have more pointed tip, giving falcon-like appearance when gliding (separating also from blunt-winged Sparrowhawk). Male dull blue-grey above with blackish wing-tip and plain central tail-feathers; female browner, less contrasting and closed uppertail has dark band near tip. From below, male has white underwing […]

Kingdom : Birds, Chat

Small, short-tailed, rounded head perching semi upright; flicks tail quite often. Jet black male unmistakable with white belly, rump and narrow shoulder patch; white patterns above easily seen in low jerky flight. Female has unstreaked sooty earth-brown upperparts and breast, creamy belly and rufous-orange rump; some are rusty brown on breast and have slight supercilium.

Kingdom : Birds, Stork

A glossy black stork with white lower underparts. Adult has red bill and legs, whereas browner, less glossy juvenile has greyish green bill and legs.

Kingdom : Birds, Stork

Unmistakable in adult plumage with slightly drooping orange-yellow bill, bare red face and orange-red legs. Plumage resembles White Stork but tail is black (visible in flight) and mantle and tips of wing-coverts tinged pink. Subadults are sandy buff with some pink on underwing-coverts, a much duller bill and legs, and greyish to pale orange facial […]

Kingdom : Birds, Swan

Large swan with a long neck, flattened forehead and bi-coloured bill. Bill black with yellow base extending in a wedge usually to below nostril or beyond.Walks well. Silent in flight, with powerful wingbeats with a flattened head profile.

Kingdom : Birds, Thrush

A little smaller than blackbird. Male has a clear black bib, and prominent whitish underparts. Female has white throat streaked blackish, but lower border of black breast clear-cut, with upperparts browner. It is a shy bird with fast straight flight.

Kingdom : Birds, Thrush

Similar to Black-throated Thrush, but with brown reddish throat and tail tips rusty, red colour. Prefers to live in a habitat where lots of trees and bushes prevail, particularly in gardens, parks and cultivated areas. Reported in Qatar as a vagrant bird.

Kingdom : Birds, Tit

A small bird, with a long tail and finely pointed bill, chestnut mantle and wing covets, blackish wings and tail feathers fringed white. Underparts are ochre to buff-white. Adult has black mask contrasting with pale grey crown and nape and white throat. Female is duller with smaller mask.

Kingdom : Birds, Vulture

A small vulture, the size of an Eagle. Adult has white wedge shaped tail, white underparts with black flight feathers, small pointed head and thin bill. Colour pattern similar to pale phase Booted Eagle or White Stork but shape quite different. Juvenile is mid brown below, ruff blackish, dark brown above with creamy bars on […]

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

Small, dark skulking warbler with rounded tail when seen flushed and flying to cover, in short jerky flight. Upperparts olive-brown, heavily streaked, with faint supercilium. Underparts dirty white with streaking on rear flanks, undertail, and sometimes on darker breast.

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

It is mostly confusable with Yellow-browed Warbler (and may be undistinguishable) but is generally greyer, with less yellow green appearance. A more greyish olive colour, with a more buffish white supercilium. It has 2 pale wing bars, the upper one short and sometimes invisible, the lower one distinct. Underparts dusky white, tinged buffish on ear […]

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

The only obvious yellow and olive-green warbler in the region. It has a peaked crown, yellow-orange bill and very long wings with pale wing panel. Conspicuous yellowish eye ring and lores making eye prominent. Legs blue-grey.

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

Similar to Marsh and European Reed but slightly smaller. Short bill, more prominent supercilium, shorter wings, longer constantly flicking tail are the main differences to the other warblers. Warm wash to flanks and undertail. Bill brown with flesh coloured lower mandible. Bill can appear dark tipped.

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

Similar to Booted Warbler, but subtly different, having longer bill with pale lower mandible. Tail longer, with grey pinkish legs, and pale underparts. Frequents damp scrub habitat and grazed mangroves and trees.

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

Large warbler, with long wings and short tail. Vivid green upperparts, with long broad yellow supercilium, ear coverts, throat and upper breast. Contrasting white underparts. Yellow-fringed secondaries form pale panel contrasting with blackish, whitish fringed tertials. Black alula visible, with yellow lower bill and pale legs. Rather active high up in trees.

Kingdom : Birds, Warbler

Very similar to Hume’s Leaf Warbler. Brighter green upperparts, whiter underparts, very long, pronounced, yellow-white supercilium and 2 distinct yellow-white wing bars are main differences. The base of bill is also paler.

Kingdom : Birds, Hen

Slightly smaller and slimmer than Moorhen with longer neck and bill. Distinctive slaty brown and white, with rufous-chestnut vent and undertail-coverts, and yellowish green bill and feet; in breeding season reddish base to upper mandible; the crimson eye set in white face is very conspicuous. Juvenile has white face obscured by slate-brown. Skulking but sometimes […]

Kingdom : Birds, Wheatear

Closely resembles the picata race of Eastern Pied, but is larger, with ‘bull-headed’ appearance and more upright stance. Black parts more glossy; black throat has slight side-extension and is thus less ‘bib-shaped than Eastern Pied; also white on back extends farther up between wings, where border to black mantle is rounded (square-cut in Eastern Pied); […]

Kingdom : Birds, Wheatear

Male has a grey crown with a distinctive white supercilium. Ear coverts, throat and shoulder are black. Mantle is grey , underparts whitish with a rusty orange vent.. Female lacks black throat as in male. Tips of tail feathers are black with two white lines, and are a red broad colour extending towards birds’ body. […]

Kingdom : Birds, Wheatear

Three races occur; much individual variation among females. picaia: (breeds Iran) resembles Hume’s but black crown, upperparts and ‘bib’ almost without gloss; rest of underparts white, undertail-coverts sometimes buff in autumn. Female above usually brown where male black, ‘bib’ often rufous-brown but throat sometimes black; rest of underparts creamy buff to white. See Hume’s for […]

Kingdom : Birds, Wheatear

Large, glossy black wheatear with black underparts down to legs, and, in many adults, white crown; immature and some adults have black crown, resembling smaller Eastern Pied (opistholeuca race) but size, longer bill and white sides of tail with black corners diagnostic (no black terminal-band). Some black-crowned birds show a few white feather-tips, these birds […]

Kingdom : Birds, Whitethroat

Slightly larger than Lesser Whitethroat. Has a rather large head, with stouter bill and darker plumage. Dark grey crown merges into dull grey-brown back and near black ear-covverts, creating greater contrast with white throat.