Wintering Waterbirds in the Kingdom of Bahrain Results of International Waterbird Census, January 13-14, 2017

Surveys conducted and report prepared by

The Supreme Council for Environment And The Arab Regional Center for World Heritage

Manama - 2017

| Page 1

Abstract

The International Waterbird Census (IWC) is an international program that is organized since 1967. In the Kingdom of Bahrain, IWC has conducted at the year 2017, for the period 13-14 of January. Four key wetlands were targeted of which some of them are either wetlands of international importance (Ramsar), or Important Bird Area (IBA), that hold significant numbers of waterbirds and water-related bird species on annual bases. Very limited number of contributors was contributed to this event, however, the team was very dedicated to the work, and has included some members and experts from out of Bahrain. The few number of birdwatchers who have participated to the field surveys does not make it possible to cover wider geographical area to include more wetlands, thus, the concentration on the key wetlands was the solution.

The field works were conducted in various places using area-count methodology where spot-scope, binoculars, and cameras’ long-lenses were used during the fieldwork to get better coverage of the birds (especially the far groups) over these surveyed areas.

Two institutions were contributed in the surveys: the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage (ARCWH) where the staff of these two institutions have coordinated and conducted the fieldwork, analyzed the data, and produced the current report.

Four wetlands were visited during the surveys, and all of the visits were conducted during the low-tide periods in order to count as much waterbirds in limited time as possible. Both methods were used: spotting the area by the entire team, and spreading the team over wider area as well.

The team was able to observe 49 waterbird species with an estimated total of 24330 individual bird. The most frequent waterbirds during the IWC 2017 were the smaller Waders that were spread within the very shallow waters and the vast mud flats in the surveyed wetlands. The larger waterbirds (like the Flamingo and Herons) were found wading in the relatively deeper waters but not far from the edge of these wetlands.

The index has also provided good indicators to the most important habitat for the waterbirds and waders during winter over the surveyed areas. These mudflats are very important but crucial habitat for the migrant birds, the matter that makes it very important to resume the IWC in Bahrain to monitor the change over these areas, and to explore more important areas for the waders and other waterfowl species.

| Page 2

Acknowledgement The team would like to sincerely thank Dr. Mohammad Mubarak Ben Dena, the Executive Director of the Supreme Council for Environment, for his generous support and for kindly allowing conducting the IWC 2017 in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

| Page 3

Wetlands International (WI)

Wetlands International is the global not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wetlands. Wetlands are the source of water that supports all forms of life. Despite our efforts to promote their importance, loss and damage to wetlands and their biodiversity continues. Our vision is a world where wetlands are treasured and nurtured for their beauty, the life they support and the resources they provide.

Waterbirds are a key part of wetland ecosystems. Their presence, numbers and trends at a site can tell us a lot about the health and quality of a wetland. Waterbirds have an important social function, providing food, recreation and tourism opportunities. Waterbirds connect wetlands and people across cultures and borders, they are a shared wonder of the natural world. The IWC supports many aspects of the work we do to conserve Waterbirds and the wetlands they depend upon – from conservation status assessments; to the identification, designation and monitoring of important sites; and providing the international context for managing species at a national or local level.

International Waterbird Census (IWC)

The IWC is a monitoring programme operating in 143 countries to collect information on the numbers of waterbirds at wetland sites. There are 4 separate regional schemes of the IWC that represent the major flyways of the world: Africa-Eurasia, Asia-Pacific, Caribbean, and Neotropics.

IWC 50th

To celebrate this year’s landmark 50th count, Wetlands International is launching a campaign, the aim of which is to ensure the conservation of the wetlands along the world’s flyways. Wetlands host a wide variety of wildlife and perform many useful environmental functions, and have been lost at an alarming rate with almost two- thirds having disappeared since 1900.

| Page 4

Results of the IWC 2017 Surveys in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Four different wetlands were targeted by the team to be surveyed during the 2017 mid-winter counts (ICW, 2017) as a contribution made by the two institutions mentioned above for this important global event. The surveyed areas were selected in different locations within the upper parts of the Kingdom of Bahrain Main Island as follows:

Table (1) shows the locations of the survey Coordinates Wetland name Latitude Longtude 1 Arad N 26.261534° E 50.626331° 2 Seweg lagoon and NW Tubli N 26.196966° E 50.565773° 3 East of Nabeeh Saleh Island N 26.186158° E 50.593588° 4 West Tubli Bay N 26.182058° E 50.568923°

Description of the four sites that were surveyed by the team.

1 – Arad (protected area)

Central coordinates: (N 26.261534°, E 50.626331°)

Arad (or Dohat Arad) wetland is relatively medium-size internal lagoon that is fed by a branch that brings the water from the sea. Being linked to the sea, the area is subject to the tidal effect via water-passage that feeds the waterbody from the southwestern corner. The wetland is surrounded by the park lane that is frequented by the people that visits Arad park. The area was visited during the low-tide where considerable observations were made by the team.

Thirty-seven waterbird were observed in this wetland. These species belong to nine Orders. The total count of the waterbird that the team has counted was 396 individual bird of which most of them were photographed. The highest count was for the Greater Flamingo in the pool.

| Page 5

Table (2) shows the waterbirds that have been observed during the IWC survey in Arad wetland. Bird Taxa Scientific name Arad ANSERIFORMES: Anatidae 1 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 2 PHOENICOPTERIFORMES: Phoenicopteridae 2 Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 72 SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae 3 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 66 4 Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis 23 PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae 5 Gray Heron Ardea cinerea 6 6 Little Egret Egretta garzetta 1 7 Western Reef-heron Egretta gularis 29 8 Striated Heron Butorides striata 1

9 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 3 CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae 10 Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 26 CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae 13 Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola 1 14 Lesser Sand-Plover Charadrius mongolus 7 15 Greater Sand-Plover Charadrius leschenaultii 3 16 Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 5 17 Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 2 CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae 18 Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus 1 19 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 1 20 Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 6 21 Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 4 22 Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 3 23 Common Redshank Tringa totanus 1 24 Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata 4 25 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 16 26 Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 1 27 Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii 19 28 Dunlin Calidris alpina 17 29 Little Stint Calidris minuta 2 CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae 30 Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei 39 31 Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 12 32 Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnas 14 33 Armenian Gull Larus armenicus 3 34 Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica 3 35 Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 1 36 Common Tern Sterna hirundo 1 Total 396

| Page 6

2 – Sewage lagoon and northwest Tubli Bay (part of IBA & Ramsar site)

Central coordinates: (N 26.196966°, E 50.565773°)

The sewage inflow is an area rich with Mangrove trees and relatively small mudflat that becomes very vital with bird-life during the low-tide. This area was targeted by the team along with the northwestern parts of Tubli Bay IBA. It seems that the new waters of the sewage bring much nutrients and organic sediments that attract considerable numbers of waterbirds and water-related bird species. Despite that the area is close to urban settlements, but it seems that this does not affect the behavior of the birds as some relatively ‘shy’ birds (like Herons and Ducks) were present during the survey. See table 3 for more info regarding the birds that were observed during the IWC surveys.

Twenty-nine waterfowl species were observed in these wetlands of which the Black-headed Gull was the dominant species. The Herons that were observed were inhibiting the Mangrove bushes that were concentrated at the western side of the area, while the other dabbling and swimming waterbirds were inhibiting the open and relatively deeper waters.

Table (3) shows the waterbirds that have been observed during the IWC survey in the sewage lagoon and northwest of Tubli Bay wetlands. Seweg & Bird Taxa Scientific name N. Tubli ANSERIFORMES: Anatidae 1. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 1 2. Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata 7 PODICIPEDIFORMES: Podicipedidae 3. Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis 2 PHOENICOPTERIFORMES: Phoenicopteridae 4. Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 31 SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae 5. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 3

| Page 7

6. Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis 6 PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae 7 Gray Heron Ardea cinerea 24 8. Little Egret Egretta garzetta 4 9. Western Reef-heron Egretta gularis 21

10 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 2 11 Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 5 CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae 12 Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 33 GRUIFORMES: Rallidae 13 Eurasian Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 19 CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae 13 Lesser Sand-Plover Charadrius mongolus 2 14 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus 12 15 Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 14 16 Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 3 CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae 17 Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus 2 18 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 2 19 Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 4 20 Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 2 21 Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata 2 22 Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii 1 23 Little Stint Calidris minuta 4 CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae 24 Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei 115 25 Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 285 26 Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnas 1 27 Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica 8 29 Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 2 CORACIIFORMES: Alcedinidae 30 Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis Total 618

| Page 8

3 – West Tubli (part of IBA & Ramsar site)

Central coordinates: (N 26.182058°, E 50.568923°)

This area is located at the western parts of Tubli Bay that is considered as a wetland of international importance (Ramsar site), at the same time it is considered as Important Bird Area (IBA) due to the quite large numbers of birds that frequent this wetland. It consists of open area that facing the east direction with large area of mudflat that works as very important as foraging and roosting areas for Waders and other shore-birds. Despite that the western areas of the area is frequented by residency areas, but it does not affect the presence of the birds in large numbers.

Thirty-six waterbird belong to seven orders were observed in this area during the IWC survey. The majority of the waders were concentrated at the relatively shallower and mudflat areas in this wetland. The tide was low during the survey, so there was very wide theatre for the waterbirds to move around within this area. The small wader (like stints and sand plovers) were the dominant waterbird species during the survey.

Table (4) shows the waterbirds that have been observed during the IWC survey in the sewage lagoon and northwest of Tubli Bay wetlands.

Bird Taxa Scientific name W. Tubli

PHOENICOPTERIFORMES: Phoenicopteridae 1 Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 43 SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae 2 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 16 3 Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis 5 PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae 4 Gray Heron Ardea cinerea 13 5 Little Egret Egretta garzetta 2 6 Western Reef-heron Egretta gularis 31

| Page 9

7 Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 1 CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae 8 Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 6 CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae 9 Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola 2 10 Lesser Sand-Plover Charadrius mongolus 325 11 Greater Sand-Plover Charadrius leschenaultii 460 12 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus 455 13 Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 49 14 Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 22 CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae 15 Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus 24 16 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 14 17 Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 19 18 Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 12 19 Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 22 20 Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 6 21 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 21 22 Common Redshank Tringa totanus 3 23 Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata 1 24 Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica 18 25 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 47 26 Ruff Calidris pugnax 42 27 Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii 540 28 Sanderling Calidris alba 23 29 Dunlin Calidris alpina 395 30 Little Stint Calidris minuta 320 CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae 31 Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei 66 32 Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 225 33 Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnas 33 34 Armenian Gull Larus armenicus 5 35 Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica 8 36 Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 3 Total 3277

| Page 10

4 – East Nabeh Saleh Island

Central coordinates: (N 26.186158°, E 50.593588°)

The sewage inflow is an area rich with Mangroove trees and relatively small mudflat that becomes very vital with bird-life during the low-tide. This area was targeted by the team along with the northwestern parts of Tubli Bay IBA. It seems that the new waters of the sewage bring much nutrients and organic sediments that attract considerable numbers of waterbirds and water-related bird species. Despite that the area is close to urban settlements, but it seems that this does not affect the behavior of the birds as some relatively ‘shy’ birds (like Herons and Ducks) were present during the survey. See the table below for more info regarding the birds that were observed during the IWC surveys.

Forty-one bird species were observed in this area belong to seven Orders. Being relatively very wide area (approx. 2km length x 1km depth), and due to the low tide case during the survey of this area, the team was able to count quite large numbers of waders and other waterfowl species. The total of the counted and estimated waterbirds in this wetland was 20040 individual which is the highest among the other four surveyed wetlands.

Table (5) shows the waterbirds that have been observed during the IWC survey in the sewage lagoon and northwest of Tubli Bay wetlands. East N. Bird Taxa Scientific name Salih Isl. PHOENICOPTERIFORMES: Phoenicopteridae 1 Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 455 SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae 2 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 595 3 Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis 34 PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae 4 Gray Heron Ardea cinerea 7

| Page 11

5 Little Egret Egretta garzetta 16 6 Western Reef-heron Egretta gularis 105 CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae 7 Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 21 CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae 8 Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola 4 9 Lesser Sand-Plover Charadrius mongolus 3500 10 Greater Sand-Plover Charadrius leschenaultii 2400 11 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus 520 12 Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 660 13 Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 105 CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae 14 Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus 63 15 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 86 16 Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 43 17 Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 55 18 Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 29 19 Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 33 20 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 27 21 Common Redshank Tringa totanus 19 22 Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata 28 23 Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa 45 24 Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica 205 25 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 195 26 Ruff Calidris pugnax 215 27 Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 20 28 Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii 1385 29 Sanderling Calidris alba 78 30 Dunlin Calidris alpina 3200 31 Little Stint Calidris minuta 970 CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae 32 Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei 1950 33 Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 2760 34 Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnas 40 35 Armenian Gull Larus armenicus 79 36 Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica 43 37 Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 31 38 Common Tern Sterna hirundo 2 39 White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa 2 40 Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis 4 41 Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis 11 Total 20040

| Page 12

Discussion

Based on the results of the surveys, that were conducted during the low-tide over the entire four sites, the team was able to get good idea on the status of the wintering Waterbirds in the surveyed four sites. The total of the bird species in the table below shows clearly the large difference among the surveyed areas and this was due to the difference in the areas that were surveyed during this IWC mission.

Totals of species counts in each wetland 25000

20000

15000

10000 Totals of species counts in each wetland 5000

0 East of West Tubli Seweg Arad Nabeeh Bay lagoon and Saleh Island NW Tubli

Figure (1) The total counts of species in the surveyed four wetlands.

The results also showed that highest percentage of the surveyed waterbirds was found in the East Nabeeh Saleh Island mudflat, and this due to the flat nature of the area that allowed large areas of mud flats during the low tide. And this phenomenon of creating relatively large areas of mudflats in short time (twice a day) makes this area very important for the foraging of the waders in quite large numbers.

Totals of species counts in each wetland

East of Nabeeh Saleh Island West Tubli Bay Seweg lagoon and NW Tubli Arad

Figure (2) a comparison of species counts in the surveyed four wetlands.

| Page 13

Annex (1)

The overall table for the four surveyed wetlands during the IWC 2017 in Bahrain.

Seweg E. N. W. Bird Taxa Scientific name Arad & NW. Totals Saleh Tubli Tubli ANSERIFORMES: Anatidae 1. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 2 1 0 0 3 2. Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata 0 7 0 0 7 PODICIPEDIFORMES: Podicipedidae 3. Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis 0 2 0 0 2 PHOENICOPTERIFORMES: Phoenicopteridae Phoenicopterus 4. Greater Flamingo roseus 72 31 455 43 601 SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae 5. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 66 3 595 16 680 Phalacrocorax 6. Socotra Cormorant nigrogularis 23 6 34 5 68 PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae 7 Gray Heron Ardea cinerea 6 24 7 13 50 8. Little Egret Egretta garzetta 1 4 16 2 23 Western Reef- 9. heron Egretta gularis 29 21 105 31 186 10. Striated Heron Butorides striata 1 0 0 0 1

11 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 3 2 0 0 5 Black-crowned Nycticorax 12. Night-Heron nycticorax 0 5 0 1 6 CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae Himantopus 13. Black-winged Stilt himantopus 26 33 21 6 86 GRUIFORMES: Rallidae 14. Eurasian Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 0 19 0 0 19 CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae 15. Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola 1 0 4 2 7 Charadrius 16. Lesser Sand-Plover mongolus 7 2 3500 325 3834 Charadrius 17. Greater Sand-Plover leschenaultii 3 0 2400 460 2863 Charadrius 18. Kentish Plover alexandrinus 0 12 520 455 987 Common Ringed 19. Plover Charadrius hiaticula 5 14 660 49 728 20. Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 2 3 105 22 132 CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae 21. Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus 1 2 63 24 90

| Page 14

22. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 1 2 86 14 103 23. Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 0 4 43 19 66 24. Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 6 0 55 12 73 Common 25. Greenshank Tringa nebularia 4 2 29 22 57 26. Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 3 0 33 6 42 27. Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 0 0 27 21 48 28. Common Redshank Tringa totanus 1 0 19 3 23 29. Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata 4 2 28 1 35 30. Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa 0 0 45 0 45 31. Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica 0 0 205 18 223 32. Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 16 0 195 47 258 33. Ruff Calidris pugnax 0 0 215 42 257 34. Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 1 0 20 0 21 35. Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii 19 1 1385 540 1945 36. Sanderling Calidris alba 0 0 78 23 101 37. Dunlin Calidris alpina 17 0 3200 395 3612 38. Little Stint Calidris minuta 2 4 970 320 1296 CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae Chroicocephalus 39. Slender-billed Gull genei 39 115 1950 66 2170 Chroicocephalus 40. Black-headed Gull ridibundus 12 285 2760 225 3282 41. Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnas 14 1 40 33 88 42. Armenian Gull Larus armenicus 3 0 79 5 87 Gelochelidon 43. Gull-billed Tern nilotica 3 8 43 8 62 44. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 1 2 31 3 37 45. Common Tern Sterna hirundo 1 0 2 0 3 White-cheeked 46. Tern Sterna repressa 0 0 2 0 2 Thalasseus 47. Sandwich Tern sandvicensis 0 0 4 0 4 Thalasseus 48. Lesser Crested Tern bengalensis 0 0 11 0 11 CORACIIFORMES: Alcedinidae 49. Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis 1 0 0 0 1 Total 396 617 20040 3277 24330

| Page 15