Arabia's Breeding Birds on the Map
A Voyage of Discovery
by Michael Jennings

CLICK ON MAP FOR ENLARGEMENT (54k JPEG)

A unique project that has been harnessing the enthusiasm and skills of amateur and professional ornithologists throughout Arabia is now entering its tenth year. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia project, ABBA for short, was the brain-child of Michael Jennings who has played a key role in running the project, now sponsored by the NCWCD, and in making sense out of all the data. We asked him to tell readers of Arabian Wildlife the background to ABBA and where it is heading from here.




A decade ago, if someone had asked me how many birds breed in Arabia, after some research, I could probably have answered "maybe about 180". But for many species I would have only a scanty idea of their status, breeding biology or how common they are in each area. Ten years on with the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia having been running since 1984, I can answer the question accurately, there are 236 birds known to breed in Arabia (October 1983) and we now have a very good idea of the status of all of them, their habitat, numbers and distribution.

The objectives of the ABBA project were to establish which birds breed in Arabia, where, in what numbers, and to collect as much data as possible about breeding biology, habitat and historical changes etc. 1993 represents a milestone for the project as the Interim Atlas has now been completed, presenting the results of all data collected so far. In the longer term the final Atlas will appear and will provide a full review of each of the species breeding in Arabia.

So far the emphasis of the data collection has been on field work by both amateur bird watchers and professional ornithologists, including residents in all the countries of Arabia, specialist visitors and the increasing number of wildlife tourists visiting the peninsula. there have also been major inputs from natural history and ornithological societies. As ABBA Co-ordinator, apart from dealing with the mountain of paperwork connected with the project, I have decided that my main objective should be to visit the least recorded regions of Arabia to collect atlas information. This should help to ensure that the final maps provide as representative coverage as possible. So far this has involved me undertaking 14 atlassing surveys to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the UAE. Future plans include more work in the mountains of Oman and in the lava deserts of north-east Saudi Arabia in the early part of 1994.

Increasingly, in the next phase of the project, information will be collected from literature sources and museum collections which will add a very important historical context to the database.

During the first nine years of the project I have personally contacted and corresponded with everyone I could trace who has either been to Arabia, or who might go there in the future, who might possibly have ornithological data they could contribute to the project. Each such potential contributor has been sent an information pack about ABBA together with the necessary instructions and report forms, to enable them to report data in a predetermined format. Clearly, any data project like ABBA has to be computer based and so a strict method of reporting data had to be prepared. The data systems took some time to design and prove but now that they have been operating for several years the result is the most comprehensive database of Arabian breeding birds ever assembled. To date, 146 fieldworkers have contributed records to ABBA's database. The latter has become an extremely powerful and valuable environmental and conservation tool since it can identify species range changes, link their distribution to habitat types, identify areas important for birds, schedule behavioural information and a great deal more.

In many respects, because the Arabian Peninsula is especially exciting for seeing migrant and visiting species, birders have in the past tended to concentrate their observations and recording in those places where a large variety and great numbers of migrants are to be found, rather than studying the less exciting resident birds. One great achievement of the ABBA project has been the stimulation of observers to record and report breeding birds and to pay more attention to their breeding distribution. The Interim Atlas is evidence of this and records no less than an additional 34 species which have been included in the list of Arabia's breeding birds since the commencement of the project. Approximately one third of these "new" breeding species are species that have been able to utilise the new habitats created in Arabia as a result of developments taking place in recent years. Two prime examples of these are the large areas of irrigated fields where crops are grown, and extensive wetlands created by effluent outflows. Another third are species that have probably always bred in Arabia but have only recently been discovered to do so, often through the efforts of those collecting information for ABBA. The remaining third are exotics introduced into the Arabian environment in the last few years, mainly from the Indian region. One aim of the ABBA project is to keep a close eye on the occurrence and range extension of such species because some are potentially of pest status, through the damage they may cause to crops.

In addition to many extra breeding birds discovered during the course of preparing the Atlas our knowledge of the range and status of many others has been turned on its head. For example, the lappet-faced vulture, Torgos tracheliotus, was hardly known from Arabia 30 years ago but the atlas has shown that it is a common and widespread breeding bird in central Arabia, and possibly on the increase. This contrasts markedly with all the other vultures which the atlas has shown to be decreasing.

Whilst the whole database will eventually be published, a major achievement of the project to date has been its willingness to share information collected with a variety of ornithological projects such as the Handbook of the Birds of the Western Palaearctic and the Important Bird Areas in the Middle East project of the International Council for Bird Preservation. In addition, very many individuals have benefited in their research and interests from the ABBA database. A large number of papers and reports have now been generated by the ABBA surveys. An additional major contribution to our knowledge of Arabian bird life has been the publication of a regular project newsletter, The Phoenix, which publishes all the news about breeding birds and environmental issues in Arabia.

More information about the ABBA project, the Interim Atlas, and a free copy of the project newsletter The Phoenix, can be obtained from the author who would also like to make contact with anyone going to, or already studying birds in Arabia, and who are not already contributing to ABBA.

Correspondence can be sent to Michael C. Jennings, ABBA Co-ordinator, 1 Warners Farm, Warners Drove, Somersham, Cambridgeshire, PE17 3HW, UK.

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Arabian Wildlife. Volume 1, Number 1
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