Jabal Aja and Northern Ha'il (Saudi Arabia)

SA006

Jabal Aja and Northern Ha'il

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2023 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List¹	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Sand Partridge Ammoperdix heyi	LC	resident	1993	abundant	B2a
Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo	LC	passage	1993	5,600 individuals	A4
Desert Tawny Owl Strix hadorami	LC	resident	1993	present	B2a
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus	EN	resident	1993	10-100 breeding pairs	B1b
Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus	LC	resident	2022	100 breeding pairs	B1b
White-throated Robin Irania gutturalis	LC	passage	1993	present	B2a
Pale Sparrow Carpospiza brachydactyla	LC	breeding	1993	1,000 breeding pairs	B2a
Cinereous Bunting Emberiza cineracea	NT	passage	1993	present	B1b
A4iv Species group - soaring birds/cranes	n/a	passage	1993	5,600 individuals	B3c

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2023) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2023. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2013	not assessed	low	negligible
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	unknown

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Residential and commercial development	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No management planning has taken place	Not assessed	negligible

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Terrestrial		major (>10)
Desert		major (>10)
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	major (>10)
rangeland/pastureland	major (>10)
tourism/recreation	minor (<10)

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Jabal Aja and Northern Ha'il (Saudi Arabia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jabal-aja-and-northern-hail-iba-saudi-arabia on 22/11/2024.