Kuwait Rarity Report 2013

1- KORC Rarity Adjudication

KORC meets quarterly each year to review and adjudicate submitted Rarity Forms for species that are considered Accidental, Vagrant, Rare and Scarce, as well as other specified species that have low and infrequent abundance.
The completed Rarity Forms are reviewed, discussed and either accepted or not by the core KORC members (MP, SIR) who are all based in Kuwait. Consensus must be reached for a decision, but if a decision cannot be reached, then the external adjudicators (OC, PK) are asked for their opinion for a final decision, which requires a majority vote for acceptance. The current Committee is as follows:Mike Pope – Kuwait (Chairman, voting member)
Abdulrahman Al-Sirhan – Kuwait (Secretary, voting member)
Pekka Fagel – Kuwait (voting member)
Oscar Campbell – Dubai (External Adjudicator)
Peter Kennerley – England (External Adjudicator)
Brian Foster– England (honorary member)

2- Accepted Records by Species for Category A and C

Six (6) new species (1st) were recorded in Kuwait during 2013 with 4 of these species being recorded at the oasis farm of Al Abraq and 50% of these species found by visiting birders.

The seventh species, a single Arabian Golden Sparrow recorded in November 2010 at Al Abraq was accepted this year after much deliberation by the KORC Committee

All are highlighted in the table below:

SPECIESSCIENTIFIC NAMESIGHTING #DATE# BirdsLOCATIONOBSERVER(S)
Arabian Golden SparrowPasser euchlorus113-Nov-101Al-AbraqB Foster, P Fagel
Collared FlycatcherFicedula albicollis110-Apr-131Al-AbraqAngelo + Alberto Nava
European GreenfinchCarduelis chloris110-Apr-131Al-AbraqAngelo + Alberto Nava
Taiga FlycatcherFicedula albicilla119-Apr-131Al-AbraqEbrahim Al-Sahood
Striolated BuntingEmberiza striolata114-Aug-131SAANRA Al-Jeraiwi
GoldcrestRegulus regulus116-Nov-131Al-AbraqH Al-Shayji and Abdulaziz Al-Youssef
Streak-throated SwallowPetrochelidon fluvicola106-Dec-131Jahra Pools Reserve (JPR)Dennis O’Sullivan et al

Many other rarities were recorded during the year and these are reflected in the table below:

SPECIESSCIENTIFIC NAMESIGHTING #DATE# BirdsLOCATIONOBSERVER(S)
Horned GrebePodiceps auritus21-Jan-132Jahra Pools ReserveR Al-Hajji
Ashy DrongoDicrurus leucophaeus314-Feb-131Fintas ParkNicola Hulet
Desert FinchRhodospiza obsoleta105-Feb-132Khiran AreaOmar Al-Shaheen
Masked WagtailMotacilla a. personata302-Mar-131Jahra Pools ReserveMishal Al-Saddni
Dead Sea SparrowPasser moabiticus1504-Mar-131Jahra Pools ReserveK Al-Ghanem
Eastern NightingaleLuscinia (megarhynchos) golzii305-Apr-131South Al-SabahiyaO Al-Shaheen
Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosus1216-May-131Jahra Pools ReserveHalima Bughaith
Grey PhalaropePhalaropus fulicarius528-May-131Jahra East OutfallR Al-Hajji
Black TernChlidonias niger1229-May-131Jahra East OutfallA Al-Sirhan, R Al-Hajji
Arabian Grey ShrikeLanius aucheri315-Jun-131Jahra East OutfallO Al-Shaheen
Grey PhalaropePhalaropus fulicarius622-Jun-131Jahra East OutfallR Al-Hajji
Masked WagtailMotacilla a. personata403-Jul-131Jahra Pools ReserveK Al-Ghanem
Indian Pond HeronArdeola grayii215-Jul-132Jahra Pools ReserveO Al-Shaheen
Pygmy CormorantPhalacrocorax pygmeus309-Aug-131Jahra Pools ReserveH.Boresli, O.Al-Shaheen
Booted WarblerHippolais caligata415-Aug-131SAANRR Al-Hajji, M Pope
Mesopotamian CrowCorvus c. capellanus228-Sep-131Jahra Pools ReserveYousef Al-Failakawi
Sooty FalconFalco concolor1113-Oct-131KhuwaisatK Al-Nasrallah
Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosus1317-Oct-135Jahra Pools ReserveO Al Shaheen
Pallid Scops OwlOtus brucei630-Oct-131JPRSaleh Al-Sulaihim
Paddyfield WarblerAcrocephalus agricola230-Oct-131Jahra Pools RerserveA Al Sirhan
Pallid Scops OwlOtus brucei707-Nov-131Jal Al ZorBouke Atema
Eversmanns RedstartPhoenicurus erythronotus1016-Nov-131Al-AbraqP Fagel
Striolated BuntingEmberiza striolata218-Nov-131Wafra Oil FieldH Al-Shayji
Zitting CisticolaCisticola juncidis628-Nov-131Al-AbraqM Pope, M Craig
Taiga FlycatcherFicedula albicilla203-Dec-131Al-Shallal’s FarmAlan Dean, P Fagel et al
Desert FinchRhodospiza obsoleta1119-Dec-134Khiran Area (South)M Pope

We continue to record rare species that have had 15 Rarity Forms or more submitted, to better understand occurrence and distribution of these species.

These species are shown in the table below.

SPECIESSCIENTIFIC NAMESIGHTING #DATE# BirdsLOCATIONOBSERVER(S)
White-crowned WheatearOenanthe leucopyga1612-Jan-131Mutla RidgeR Al-Hajji
Black StorkCiconia nigra1815-Apr-131Jahra Pools ReserveM Pope
White-crowned WheatearOenanthe leucopyga1715-Jun-131SabhanSaud Al-Nouri
Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus1617-Jun-131Al-Sallam ParkMohammed Ayoub
Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus1707-Jul-132Jahra Pools ReserveK Al-Ghanem
Black StorkCiconia nigra1919-Sep-131Al RitqaO Al-Shaheen
Crested Honey BuzzardPernis ptilorhyncus1814-Sep-131Um ErimamM Al-Saddani
Crested Honey BuzzardPernis ptilorhyncus1921-Sep-131SAANRM Shah
Crested Honey BuzzardPernis ptilorhyncus2021-Sep-131Al RitqaK Al Nasrallah
Crested Honey BuzzardPernis ptilorhyncus2125-Sep-131KhuwaisatO Al-Shaheen
Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus1829-Oct-131Jahra Pools ReserveR Al-Hajji
Crested Honey BuzzardPernis ptilorhyncus2223-Nov-131Al-AbraqR Al-Hajji
White-crowned WheatearOenanthe leucopyga1813-Dec-131Jal Al-ZorO Al-Shaheen
Black StorkCiconia nigra2016-Dec-133Jahra Pools ReserveR Al-Hajji

3- First Record Images (with photographer credited)

Collared Flycatcher (P Fagel) 
Taiga Flycatcher (Ebrahim Al-Sahood) 
Goldcrest (H Al Shayji) 
Arabian Golden Sparrow (P Fagel) 
Greenfinch (P Fagel)
Striolated Bunting (Ammar Al Jeraiwi
Streak-throated Swallow in flight
Streak-throated Swallow Petrochelidon fluvicola (P Fagel)