Sooty Gulls Larus hemprichii
09 July 2006, Dubai, UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a constitutional federation of seven emirates; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The federation was formally established on 2 December 1971.

The UAE occupies an area of 83,000 sq km along the south-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies to the west, Saudi Arabia to the south and west, and Oman to the north and east. The capital of the federation, Abu Dhabi, is located in the emirate of the same name. Four-fifths of the UAE is desert, but towns and cities are kept very “green” with many parks, gardens, and plantations.

Dubai itself is a cosmopolitan society with an international lifestyle, yet with a culture deeply rooted in the Islamic traditions of Arabia. Since earliest times, Dubai has been a meeting place, bringing together the Bedouin of the desert interior with the pearl-diver, the merchant of the city with the sea-going fisherman.

Endemic to the NW Indian Ocean and Red Sea, Sooty Gulls are found from Egypt to Saudi Arabia south along the Somalia coastline and into northern coastal Kenya.

The small flock in the photographs below are all adults, and was at Fujairah Port Beach, on Dubai’s eastern coast. Many Sooty Gulls nest on islands offshore of neighbouring Oman, and the Oman Bird List, Edition 6 (Eriksen et al, Nov 2003) describes the species as “an abundant breeding resident…max 30,000 at Dhofar khawrs in October 1975″.

According to www.birdlife.org/datazone “This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 150,000-300,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photos copyright Charlie Moores