JORDAN'S LITTLE-KNOWN BIRDLIFE
by Ian J. Andrews, 1995

If Jordan were to choose a national bird, I suggest it would have to be the Sinai Rosefinch. Although only the size of a small sparrow, the male's vivid pink plumage epitomises Jordan's rose-red city of Petra and the red cliffs and desert sands of Wadi Rum. No other bird, including the iridescent-feathered Palestine Sunbird, the elegant Tristram’s Grackle with its whistling call, or the rare, Canary-like Tristram’s Serin has quite the same claim to be Jordan's bird.

Sinai Rosefinch - a candidate for Jordan's national bird (Ian Andrews)

The next question is: how many birds are there in Jordan? Some visitors may only see a few different kinds, but in fact 374 species have been documented by the author. Several, including the Sinai Rosefinch, can be seen in few other places in the world. On the other hand, the total number of individual birds is more difficult to estimate. But, as Jordan lies on one of the major migration fly-ways of the world, it would be no overestimate to say that many millions of birds pass through Jordanian airspace each year.

These globe-trotting migrants range from the smallest of warblers, through the most colourful of Rollers and Bee-eaters to the huge White Stork with its 1.6 metre (5 foot) wingspan. Some end their journeys in Jordan - to breed or spend the winter – whilst others head on north in spring to Eastern Europe or as far as Siberia, and back south in autumn to East Africa. To them Jordan is a vital refuelling stop on their annual migration; a place to quickly feed, drink or rest before pressing on. The natural landscape of Jordan concentrates this stream of migrating birds along the line of the Gulf of Aqaba, Wadi Araba, the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley and leads to some spectacular sightings along the flanking mountain chain.

A colourful Roller migrates through Jordan's deserts (Ian Andrews)

To witness a flock of ten thousand White Storks passing overhead is awesome, and can rival any Hollywood special effect: "Perched on a hill top overlooking the Jordan Valley they came over in squadrons, so close we could hear the wind rushing through their wings, and the high-pitched call of the young birds as they kept in contact with their parents." Just think, two weeks previously these birds may have been nesting on chimney pots and telegraph poles in Romania, and next month they could be feeding amongst the zebra and antelopes in Africa.

Having roosted overnight, a huge flock of White Storks catches a lift on an early morning thermal (Ian Andrews)

Birds of prey such as buzzards, eagles, hawks and falcons also use this migration route in their millions. They make full use of the heat of the desert, and save valuable energy by catching lifts on the thermals of hot air which rise from the sun-baked rocks. You are most likely to see these spiralling flocks over the mountain ridges at Petra or Wadi Rum on a spring morning before the birds gain height and turn into ever smaller dots in the sky.

A male Pallid Harrier interrupts its migration north in spring (Ian Andrews)

Aqaba is not only a favourite destination for tourists, but it is also the landfall for many migrant birds heading north up the Gulf of Aqaba each spring. Any tree, bush, dripping irrigation pipe or pool of water is a welcome sight for a tired migrating bird just arrived from a gruelling flight over the sea or desert. In the past, Aqaba boasted a palm oasis between the sea and the desert, but little else. Now there are many more places for birds to rest in the form of palm groves, gardens and irrigated fields. So for once, we can say that man's presence has been advantageous to birds. And with more people has come a large sewage plant - believe it or not, now one of Aqaba's premier birdwatching sites!

The deserts of Jordan may at first glance appear to be barren and devoid of birdlife, but this is certainly not the case. The harsh, arid conditions favour specialists, and the scarcity of food and unpredictability of rainfall mean that the desert inhabitants have had to adapt by living at low densities and making full use of the rains when they do come. Indeed, most birdwatchers who visit Jordan are attracted by the spectacular variety of desert species that live in this, one of the most accessible corners of the Arabian Desert. Some, like the 13 species of lark found in Jordan, are camouflaged against the buff hues of the desert rocks, whilst others, such as the 11 kinds of wheatear, stand out in their variations on a black-and-white theme.

The plumage of many desert dwellers, including this Desert Lark, merges with the sandy background (Ian Andrews)

Jordan's black basalt desert, between Azraq and the Iraqi border, is a lunar, boulder-strewn landscape fashioned by a long-extinct volcano. There can be few places so bleak, yet many birds survive here, several having evolved to match the colour of their environment. The Desert Lark, normally a pale sandy colour, has become a dark, slate-grey bird, and the Mourning Wheatear, elsewhere distinctively pied, is almost entirely black here.

Two thousand year old rock art near Azraq reveals a former abundance of game species, including Ostriches (Ian Andrews)

In the past, the Houbara Bustard (a turkey-like bird standing 60 cm or 2 foot high) was a key member of this desert community, but sadly it is now all but extinct through man’s overzealous hunting. Further into the past it was even possible to find the flightless Ostrich in Jordan. The extensive rock drawings in the Azraq area indicate to archaeologists that Ostriches, along with ibex and gazelles, were amongst the game commonly hunted by the ancient bedouin tribes. Sadly, the last Arabian Ostrich was shot in 1939. A small number of Ostriches now in the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, are part of a plan by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature to reintroduce several animal species currently extinct in Jordan. However, much has changed since Ostriches last roamed the Jordanian deserts, not least being the huge increase in the numbers of domestic sheep and goats that are eating their way through the natural vegetation.

By the way, if you want to try and see Jordan’s national bird - the Sinai Rosefinch - I suggest you look around the cliffs or the resthouse at Wadi Rum, or keep your eyes peeled at Petra as you admire the Nabetean tombs or take a rest on your way up to Ad Dayr. Good luck!

More information on Jordan’s birdlife, and where best to look for it, can be found in Ian Andrews’ recently published The Birds of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

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