Reintroduction of Houbara Bustards into Central ... - Nwrc.gov.sa

occasions were two birds seen together. We presume that thoseseen individually or in pairs were also members of a grouprecorded nearby. The numbers recorded in each group size is:7 (4 times), 6 (5 times), 5 (7 times), 4 (2 times) and 3 (once).It appears that each group consists of a family, includingparents and young possibly of one or two broods. Howevermore extensive observations are required to further comment ongroup structure.BehaviourThe Asir magpie is a restless bird, from the time they leave theroost site (as early as 0520 hrs) and settle for roosting (as lateas 1920 hrs) they keep on the move, calling and foraging. Atotal of about 17 hrs observationsgroups and birds were foundwere made while followingactive at all hours of the day.After emerging from roost site they disperse in the surroundingarea up to about 200 meters, sit on the top branches of trees,call and preen alternately for a few minutes then move on.Almost all movements of each bird is combined with calling.Members of the group followthe leader by responding to calls.Birds were found feeding on garbage, very often beak fulls ofboiled rice at picnic sites, fallen grain, the pulpy seeds ofJuniper or pickinginsects 'from the ground and in vegetation.On one occasion they were recorded eating (Ficus sp)hypenthodium: the small fruits were swallowed intact, the largerones were eaten a piece at a time.Asir magpies are one of the most vocal birds in the area andkeep on calling at all hours of the day revealing theirwhereabouts. One obvious reason for the calling is that thecalls help them to keep together as a group. At least threetypes of calls are made by the magpies. A full loud "Qlla.vnkQuaynk",is made when the bird calls from a top branch orwhile moving. Presumably this is the main contact call. Asimilar tone "Qltenk Quenk", is uttered when the bird issearching for insects or under some stress, a sort of alarm call;while the young birds make a much softer .'Qua Qua", whichseems to be soliciting calls during food begging or followingtheir parents.Juniper trees, and well vegetated areas such as the bottoms ofwadis (valleys) are used as roosting site. The same site is usedpermanently for a long tim~ but the exact roost tree may changefrom day to day. At times these sites are also used for nesting.Various set patterns of pre- and post-roosting activities wererecorded: preening and calling formed an important part of suchmajor activities. On average Asir magpies roost for ten hours.but settle earlier on misty/foggy evenings. No day time siestawas recorded.BreedingOur survey itinerary did not allow prolonged observation onbreeding biology but this study is proposed during the secondphase of the study.Two pairs of Asir magpies were recorded breeding at JebelQahar near Rakhiya in March 1996; six old nests were alsofound in the nearby Juniper forests. Since they were alreadyfeeding the nestlings on March 7-9, it is certain that thebreeding started sometime in February .The nest of Asir magpie is a huge, rather oval, global, mass ofloosely arranged dry twigs placed at the base of forked branchesabout 5-6 m above the ground.So far, all nests found by thepresent survey at Jebel Qahar and at Jebel Soodah have beenrecorded on juniper trees. (However acacia has also beenrecorded as the nest tree by others).The entrance of the nestis on the side. It is generally lined with soft materials such asrootlets, feathers and measures approximately50 cm x 60 cm.Parents start feeding the nestlings with food gathered nearbyfrom very early in the morning and frequently feed throughoutthe day. However, maximum activity by both parents ( averageeight visits per hour) were recorded during the morning.Whileapproaching and leaving the nest, and foraging around. theparents call loudly .Whilethe nest very cautiously;look around and then enter.feeding the nestlings, they approachperch on nearby branches carefully.Since there was no call/soundheard from the nest and parents were recorded feeding softgrubs (caterpillars)picked up from the ground, we presume thatthe nestlings were only 3-4 days old. (Grown up nestlings ofmost crows usually make a loud food begging call whilstreceiving/solicitingConclusionHabitatfood).loss appears to be the main reason for the appareptdecline in the population of the Asir Magpie. This is mainly onaccount of rapid developments in promoting tourism. Naturalhabitats in the Asir are shrinking alarmingly and it is noexaggeration to say that the biodiversity of the Asir Region isat stake. The restoration of the natural habitat should be themain objective of any nature conservation programme in thisregion. A long term project to study the ecology and biologyof Asir magpie will also be initiated without further delay.AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Prof. A. H. Abuzinada.NCWCDSecretary General ofand Yousef al Wutaid. Director of Research and FieldStudies for encouragement and facilities; and to Mr Ali al Asiri.Range Officer Raydah Reserve and his staff members forprovidinglocal hospitality.H.S.A. Yah.va and M. Salamah NCWCD, PO Bo.r 61681Ri)'adh, Saudi Arabia.Reintroduction of Houbara Bustards intoCentral Saudi Arabia: A Summary ofResults Between 1991 and 1996A patchwork of sightings by the first European txplorers toSaudi Arabia combine with local oral records to suggest that the ~Kingdom once had healthy and widely dispersed breeding ,populations of the ho4bara bustard Chlam.vdotis macqueenii. -These year-round residents were joined each winter by an influx -Sof migrant houbara. moving down through the Arabian -tPeninsula from northern breeding grounds. perhaps as far away CSas Kazakhstan. Hunting. with falcon and shotgun. Jencroachment into once remote areas. and loss of steppe desert Ohabitat to agriculture has markedly reduced houbara numbers in ~Saudi Arabia. But whereas migrant houbara were able to b14

trials should concentrate on birds of this age. Between 1994and 1996 only sub-adult houbara aged about two to four monthshave been released. Houbara are transported to Mahazat as-Sayd and placed in soft-netting cages for several weeks beforebeing released into a 400 ha mammalian predator-proofenclosure. The birds are free to fly out of this enclosure andinto the wider reserve at any time after release and most do sowithin one month.~!;":'.~~.;,..,. -4: .J-~--~ '~../'- ~. ~:.'1:'";~~/:.. \ "' ~"'\/-;; ,~ ;.,.-~-..1..:::-:-1iJ-1a- TheBetween 1991 and 1995 a total of 135 houbara have beenreleased into Mahazat as-Sayd. All the released birds are fittedwith backpack mounted, solar-powered radio-transmitters. Thisenables field workers to locate the birds, and to monitorsurvival, dispersal, habitat use and behaviour. By 31 December1995 41 houbara could be located within the reserve, withanother 11 missing but possibly alive but with faultytransmitters. An overall survival rate of between 30 and 40171f,is encouraging, particularly since this includes the relativelyhigh rate of losses incurred during early trials with chicks andnon-flighted birds.population now includes birds which are up to three yearsold and potentially able to breed. During spring therefore,attention has been focused on locating evidence of breedingwithin the newly established population. This effort wasrewarded with the discovery in April 1995 of the first egg everlaid by a reintroduced houbara, and the first breeding byhoubara in central Saudi Arabia for at least 40 years. A totalof three nests were found during 1995, producing four chicks,making Mahazat as-Sayd a new dot on the map of breedingsites for the houbara in the Arabian Peninsula.Fig 10 Houhara Chlamydotis undulata/macqueenii hred as a reintroducedspecies in the central Arahia at the Mahazat as-Sayd reserve in 1995.retreat to the relative safety of their breeding grounds, resident~~houbara were exposed to hunting throughout the year .Consequently, Saudi Arabia's resident houbara have beenreduced to a single breeding populationpersisting at low densitywithin the Harrat al-Harrah protected area in the far north.Since 1986 one of the core projects of the NCWCDhas beenan attempt to restore resident houbara numbers through captivebreedingand reintroductioninto suitable protected areas. TheNCWCD houbara reintroduction project is based at the NationalWildlife Research Centre (NWRC) in Taif. Since 1991 releasesof captive-bred houbara. offspring of founders bred at theNWRC, have been released into the 2.200 km2 Mahazat as-Saydreserve (c.a. IA21). Situated 150 km north east of Taif.Mahazat as-Sayd is the largest fenced reserve in Saudi Arabiaand is the site of the first reintroductionsof Arabian oryx Oryx/eucof")'x. sand gazelle Gaze/la sub gut tu rosa and the red-neckedostrich StruthioBetweencame/us came/us.1991 and 1993 houbara research staff in Mahazat as-Sayd tried different release methods to maximise the postreleasesurvival. By 1994 the researcher then in charge ofreleases. Dr Olivier Combreau. determined that sub-adult birdsshowed the highest survivalafter release and that subsequentIn December 1995 frequent location of the radio-tagged malesin the population resulted in the location of II individualdisplay sites. One location held up to five displaying males allwithin about I kmL The Mahazat as-Sayd houbara populationis unique in that all the birds are aged, sexed and tagg('d. andtheir individual movements may be monitored cl(lsely. Thisallows field researchers to begin to answer sl1me of thequestions we have about houbara behaviour in tile wild, one ofthe most fundamental of which concerns their breeding s~.stem.The houbara has been variously described as monogamous.polygynous or promiscuous. The data from the releasedpopulation has indicated that houbara. in Mahazat as-Sayd atleast, are promiscuous, with mating and mate choice centred onmale dominance type exploded leks. Work in late 1996 hopesto investigate some of the factors influencing the formation ofthese dispersed lek sites.But the problems of taking captive-bred houbara and placingthem in the wild are far from solved. Houbara are not likeArabian oryx or gazelle, the houbara has natural predators suchas the red fox Vulpes vulpes and wild cat Felix .\"ilvestri.\", whichwill take quick advantage of any bird that appears vulnerable orunwary .By far the greatest cause of post-release mortality ispredation by mammalian carnivores. with losses reaching 50%or more. Two approaches have been taken during recentreleases to try and reduce predation. Firstly, the area round therelease site is trapped for small carnivores, and all red fo)(esand wild cats are translocated out of the reserve to try andreduce the density of predators in the immediate vicinity. andthereby increase the amount of time available to the houbara to15

familiarise themselves with their new environment. A moreactive approach is also being tried; during the 1995 and 1996releases birds have been actively trained to increase theirrecognition of predators through the use of both model and livered foxes. The effect of training is currently being assessedthrough behavioural testing before release and by post-releasesurvival.mm) price Sfr 159. Published b)' the NCWCD PO Bo.t" 61681,Riyadh and Pro-Entomologica c/o Natural Histo1)' Museum,Basle. Switzerland.Although approximately 50% of released houbara learn to avoidpredators and survive within Mahazar as-Sayd. the problemswith predators does not end there. Results from spring 1996have shown that predation of eggs at nests may be significant,with three out of four of the 1996 nesting attempts ending inegg loss to an unknown predator. Before any management canbe formulated to try and reduce these losses it is important toidentify both the predator involved and the circumstances underwhich predation takes place. It is therefore planned to have 24-hour video monitoring of any nests located in 1997. Videomonitoring will also provide information on patterns of nestattendance by incubatingfemales.The 1996 release season is currently underway. Between 40and 50 sub-adult houbara will be released into the reserve bySeptember] 996. As with previous releases. all the birds willbe radio-tagged. We are encouraged by the results so far, areasonable percentage of released birds have survived andremained in the reserve to create a resident breeding population.The ultimate goal however, is to create a self-sustainingpopulation of houbara in Mahazat as-Sayd, and to repeat thisprocess in other protected areas and thereby restore the houbarabustard to the central and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia.Philip J Seddon & Richard F Malone)', National WildlifeRt'search Centre NCWCD,pa Box 1086. Taij; Saudi Arabia.Journals, Reports and Other PublicationsThe following notes list some of the more interesting papersconcerning birds and other wildlife which have appeared in thevarious Arabian natural history newsletters and in other reportsetc in recent months.each article but further informationvarious societies and organisationsto the main papers listed most periodicalsSpace does not permit the full citation offeatures such as recent reports, brief notes etc.Fauna of Saudi Arabia Vol15 (1996)can be obtained from theshown. Note that in additionalso include regularThe latest volume of this important series sees a change ofeditors. Professor William Btit ti ker, the founding editor hasmoved over for the new editors Dr Freidhelm Krupp and VolkerMahnert both of whom have been closely associated with theseries for some time. The single bird article in this volumepresents information on four major wadi systems in south-westSaudi Arabia. 142 species are mentioned and notes are given oftheir commonality and status at each site. Other papers in thisvolume cover arachnids (two), crustaceans (three), centipedes(one), insects (eight), echinoderms (one) and fish (two). Theabove include important papers covering the 265 species of antsto be found in Arabia and a new species of shark describedfrom the Arabian Gulf. Colour pictures included are of beetles,crabs, fish and habitats. Hard back. 418 pages (285mm x 215Fig II Breeding was proven for short-toed eagle Circaetu.~ ga/licl/.~ incentral Arabia during ABBA Survey 19, Apri11996.Oman Bird News: Nos 18 and 19and Summer 1996)'Winter 1995/96Number 18 of OBN appeared in early 1996 a year after No 17.Articles concern the diet of the pale crag martin (mostly beetlesand ants), the number of red-necked phalaropes winteringArabian sea (a five figure populationin theis postulated in the Muscatarea); rare birds in Oman in the last couple of years; theoccurrence of the houbara in Oman and further infomlation onlouanin's petrel. There are two notes on Dhofar including onevery useful account on how to get there, accommodation,placesto visit etc. Number i 8 had 25 pages, number 19 (Summer1996) was smaller at 15 pages but contained the exciting detailsof breeding collared pratincole near Sohar (eggs and young).News also of waterfowlfrom the Oman Bird Records Committee,113. Sultanate ~f Oman.Tribuluscounts and ringed birds. Both availablePO Box 246. MII.\"catVol 5, Pt 2 (act 95), contained eight main articles. coveringcetacean research, dugongs, turtles,tiger beetles, butterflies,mammals of the UAE highlands and the protection of theSocotra cormorant.There were six papers in Vol 6, Pt I (Apr96), on protected areas, a checklist of amphibians and reptiles,a list of mammals and their conservation status. mountaingazelles, houbara and a botany excursion.Sand grouse Vols 17 and 18(Pt 1)Vol 17 is a 188 page, single issue which will be regarded as amilestone for OSME. Not only is it the report of the secondOSME expedition to Yemen but it is also the last volume ofSand grouse in the old format. Volume 18 (see below) is adifferent size and includes regular items that previouslyappeared in the OSME bulletin. OSME's second expedition to16