UAE could be a hotspot for bird lovers

A new Arabic app aims to celebrate the diversity of migratory birds in the Middle East

Published:  February 13, 2019 15:44By Ashley Hammond Chief Reporter

According to BirdLife International, every autumn over two billion birds channel through the Middle East from Europe and Central Asia on their way down to Africa, before migrating back again in spring.

A quarter of that number, however, are shot or trapped by hunters in the region every year, and up until recently few efforts were being made to protect them.

Now, however, a new app — the world’s first to be launched in Arabic — by conservation charity, the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia (OSME), looks to change attitudes towards wildlife in the region.

Based on the book Birds of the Middle East, which was also translated into Arabic and launched at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai in 2017, the free to download app looks to take the fight for conservation to a wider and ever younger, tech-savvy, audience.

“Hunting is one of the big concerns so we hope to try and get people — the next generation or the generation after that — to appreciate birds for their natural beauty and incredible behaviour, rather than just being merely seen as something to be shot,” OSME chairman Rob Sheldon told the Weekend Review.

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Air we go: Flamingo flights tracked for UAE conservation celebration

Haneen Dajani

November 14, 2018

Updated: November 15, 2018 10:33 AM

The migrations of 10 frequent flyer flamingos are being tracked by satellite as part of a celebration of UAE wetlands conservation.

The Abu Dhabi Birdathon – launched by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways – will count the air miles racked up by the flying squad to help better understand their migration patterns and raise awareness about Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, from which they are setting off.

The birds took flight on Tuesday and will be tracked until March 4 when the flamingo that reaches the farthest point will be the winner.

Since Al Wathba was established by the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, as a protected area in 1998 after observing the successful breeding of the flamingo for the first time at the site, the scheme has been launched to coincide with the Year of Zayed.

There are about 3,000 flamingos at the reserve, and the sea of pink is likely to increase when the migration season reaches its peak.

They begin to migrate to the area from August and settle there until mid February.

Each of the 10 tagged birds is being linked to major company, that will name the bird and encourage its staff and the public to follow its progress on the Birdathon website.

A team of six officials from the agency began setting traps to catch the participating flamingos to tag and release at 5am on Tuesday.

“We started setting up when it was really dark, so the birds didn’t see us,” said Dr Salim Javed, acting director of terrestrial and marine biodiversity at the agency.

The team waited from a distance for an hour until the first flamingo walked into the trap, with the second following 15 minutes later.

Details such as the bird’s weight and wing size were taken to make sure they were in good health, before a 45-gram tracker device was placed on them like a backpack.

Both birds were given some time to relax before being released at 8.30am.

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Pakistan allows shipping of 150 falcons to UAE despite hunting ban

By News Desk

Published: September 30, 2018

Pakistan has allowed shipment of 150 Shaheen falcons to the United Arab Emirates, despite a ban on the hunting of the endangered bird at home, Express News reported.

The falcons are being shipped for Dubai’s ruler Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

Pakistan has placed a complete ban on the hunting of rare and migratory birds. Prime Minister Imran Khan has also barred the hunting of Shaheens in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Every year, endangered and migratory birds flock to Pakistan along Sindh’s coastal belt and desert area to avoid spending winters in Siberia.

With this, the federal government invites Arab dignitaries  to hunt these birds as sport every year.

Hunt the endangered Houbara bustard and other migratory birds in Pakistan is the favourite pastime of Arab princes.

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UAE releases 1,000 Houbara Bustard in RYK in pursuit of conservation

May 12, 2018

In the presence of UAE Embassy in Islamabad and representatives of Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) Abu Dhabi and officials of Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries Department of the Punjab province and Pakistani media, the UAE released 1,000 Houbara birds in Rahim Yar Khan as part of its constant pursuit and efforts of preservation, and an achievement of the United Arab Emirates.

On this occasion H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Zaabi, the UAE Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, said that the UAE has achieved a distinguished position on global level in its efforts to conserve the Houbara and its leading role been recognized in this field. Family breeding projects have been launched in Abu Dhabi for more than 40 years, and have achieved outstanding results despite the difficulty in houbara’s captivity of producing for its distinguished habitate from other birds that can be multiplied in captivity. On this occasion, the Ambassador said that the UAE is the first country in the world to track Houbara birds through satellites during their migrating from north to south, founder of the United Arab Emirates, at that time the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, sensed the dangers for Houbara, and he began to warn that if we do not initiate the successful ways to protect this rare species, the Houbara will eventually become extinct and will disappear from our heritage and the future of our children.

Al Zaabi revealed that the story of the success of Abu Dhabi’s efforts in breeding Houbara, specifically in 1977, and of the Al-Ain Zoo, with no more than seven Asian Houbaras, was the first nucleus of captive breeding in the United Arab Emirates. After prolong efforts to lay the foundations for captivity breeding programs with a firm and strong determination for several years, the first Asian chick was successfully produced in captivity in 1982.

H.E. recalled that H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan described this remarkable moment as saying: ‘If I forget, I will not forget that day when this good news conveyed to the late Sheikh Zayed and the feelings of human beings and the joy that filled his life as the promising results fruited that this rare bird will begin to multiply in the heart of the UAE’s vibrant environment. His Highness stressed that the UAE’s keenness to raise, study and preserve Houbara comes from a sense of responsibility, as Houbara defines the ancient heritage and deeply rooted history for more than two thousand years and a genuine tendency to preserve one of the pillars of our national heritage, which we inherited from our parents and grandparents, therefore, preserving it is a safeguard for species and for this ancient heritage and authentic traditions, and it is only adopted by those of thought and determination.

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UAE warns against poaching rare bird

Violating hunting ban on stone-curlew can result in six-month prison term, fine

Published: 15:50 January 25, 2018

Dubai: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment is warning against using electronic devices that mimic bird calls to lure stone-curlew in the UAE.

The move follows an increase in poaching of the rare bird species during its winter migration through the country that poses a threat to its reproduction, the ministry said on Thursday.

The warning is in line with UAE legislation protecting the conservation of rare and endangered bird species.

Sultan Alwan, assistant undersecretary for the Regions Sector at the ministry, said: “The ministry has recently noticed that some people use electronic devices that imitate the voice of the stone-curlew to attract large numbers of these birds over long distances in order to catch them easily.”

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New bird discovered breeding in UAE

The Egyptian Nightjar had not been suspected of breeding in the Arabian Peninsula before 2010

The National

September 10, 2017

Updated: September 10, 2017 06:57 PM

A species of bird once thought to be a rare guest to the UAE in the winter has now been found to be a regular breeder, according to a scientific paper published in Sandgrouse.

The Egyptian Nightjar breeds from Morocco to north-eastern Egypt and to southern Kazakhstan, but had not been suspected of breeding in the Arabian Peninsula before 2010.

Summer field surveys conducted by UAE birdwatchers since 2013 have now shown that the species is found regularly in the Ajban area, north-east of Abu Dhabi between March and September.

Breeding was confirmed in March 2016 and April this year.

Young birds were first seen by Emirati bird photographer, Mohammed Al Mazrouei, the Under-Secretary of the Court of the Ruler’s Representative in the Al Dhafra (Western) Region in Abu Dhabi.

"I am delighted to have played a small part in this discovery," said Mr Al Mazrouei.

His work along with that of Oscar Campbell and Mark Smiles, two local birdwatchers, led to the publishing of their paper, ‘The discovery of a breeding population of Egyptian Nightjars Caprimulgus aegyptius’, which reports on the five years of fieldwork in the Ajban area.

Up to five pairs, located by hearing the song of male birds, are believed to have been present earlier this year.

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UAE: Rare owl surprises researchers

By News from Elsewhere......media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring

2 hours ago

The Omani owl was only discovered in 2013

An owl discovered only two years ago and thought only to exist in the Gulf state of Oman has been reportedly identified in the United Arab Emirates.

Researchers in the mountainous and protected wetland area of Wadi Wurayah in the east of the emirates say they heard the distinctive call of the rare Omani owl when they played recorded owl calls through speakers, The National newspaper reports. The team from the Emirates Wildlife Society said that the owl, Latin name Strix omanensis, responded to their recordings "with an hour-long singing session". The cliff-dwelling bird is so rare and difficult to pin down that it was only discovered in 2013, and only seven birds living in a valley in Oman were observed at the time.

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UAE releases 2,000 endangered birds into the wild

By Staff Writer

Thursday, 8 May 2014 9:40 AM

The UAE has released 2,000 captive-bred houbara bustards into the wild as part of its conservation programme in Kazakhstan, just weeks after it was reported a Saudi prince reportedly killed almost the same number of the highly endangered birds during a hunting trip in Pakistan.

The UAE’s International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) transported the 2,000 birds by plane to Shymkent in Kazakhstan, close to the Sheikh Khalifa Houbara Breeding Centre, the WAM news agency said.

As part of the largest ever single release of the species in the wild, 93 of the birds were fitted with GPS satellite tracking devices, which will provide vital data about migration and survival of the endangered birds.

The IFHC, based in Abu Dhabi, breeds about 40,000 Asian and North African houbara bustards each year under a breeding program at Al Ain Zoo.

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United Arab Emirates (UAE) bans import of birds from Australia

Dubai: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has slapped a temporary ban on import of all kinds of tamed, wild and ornamental living birds, their products and offal from Australia due to the appearance of infectious cases of bird flu.

The decision, issued by the UAE’s Minister of Environment and Water Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, followed reports received from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on the appearance of infected cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H7N2).

The decision exempts heat-treated birds according to a 2012 ministerial resolution regarding conditions for importing red meat and heat-treated chicken meat.

The ban was imposed as part of the ministry’s strategic objectives to keep safe man and animal health in the country from epidemic diseases.

Read more: http://www.mizonews.net/world/united-arab-emirates-uae-bans-import-birds-australia/#ixzz2jVI5lrHA

UAE releases 93 endangered falcons into the wild in Kazakhstan

The UAE, under the Shaikh Zayed Falcon Release Programme (SZFRP), has released 93 endangered falcons this year in Kazakhstan. This takes the number of the bird of the culturally emblematic birds released into their natural habitat in the wild, since the programme started in 1995, to 1,554, the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) said in a statement.

The programme, under the patronage of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is now in its 19th successive year and indications are that the numbers of falcons in the wild are growing as a result of the work being done by Abu Dhabi to restore a bird crucial to local heritage, the statement said.

The first falcon release programme, under the directives of late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan, was launched in Pakistan’s Balochistan province with 100 birds of prey, all tagged for identification and tracking. After another release again in Balochistan, the third was launched in Pakistan’s Northern Area of Gilgit-Baltistan and then a large number of releases in Central Asia, particularly the Kazakh region.

This year’s release carried out from May 16-18 included a total number of 46 Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) and 47 Saker falcons (Falco cherrug) in Kurchum, Eastern Kazakhstan for the fifth consecutive year.

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