• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (1994 baseline)
A major lagoon (900 × 600 m) on the Sahil al Jazir coastal plain, land-locked and predominantly freshwater, and surrounded by flat, sandy terrain including dunes. Aquatic vegetation includes Potamogeton and Ruppia; salt-tolerant dwarf shrubs and woody-based herbs are abundant around the site, becoming sparse away from the water. Human population density is low. Nomadic pastoralism is widely practised, and fishing is important in the coastal people's economy.

Key biodiversity
See box for key species. The site is rich in duck and roosting seabirds and shorebirds in winter and during migration. Up to c.600 duck occur in winter (the highest number in central Oman), including Aythya nyroca (see box), as well as good numbers of gulls and terns: Larus cachinnans/L. argentatus (140, January), Sterna nilotica (50, November), S. caspia (80, January), S. bergii (300, May) and S. sandvicensis (350, January). At least 121 species have been recorded, though the site is rather underwatched due to its remoteness.

Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Gazella gazella (V) is regularly seen. Flora: the terrestrial vegetation shows a high degree of endemism.

Acknowledgements
Data-sheet compiled by Simon Albrecht; summary bird data supplied by Oman Bird Records Committee (per Jens Eriksen).

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Khor Dirif (Oman). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/khor-dirif-iba-oman on 23/12/2024.