Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
Sewage settling lagoons within the airbase which support large reedbeds
Phragmites, though these are subject to cutting and burning. The lagoons are bordered partly by sand and scrub desert, partly by areas with irrigated trees (mainly
Eucalyptus), shrubs and grass. About 10 km from the base and c.5 km from Military City is a reservoir of c.100 ha in an area of desert bordered by military training grounds. The Tabuk area, surrounded on three sides by mountains, was formerly desert but is now intensively cultivated.
See box for key species. Breeding birds of the sewage lagoons include
Ixobrychus minutus (possible),
Rallus aquaticus,
Porzana parva,
P. pusilla (possible),
Charadrius dubius,
Acrocephalus stentoreus and
Rhodopechys obsoleta (10-15 pairs). The importance of the reservoir is not yet known as it has been visited only twice, in March and April 1990, when birds present included grebes, c.1,000 ducks, c.700
Fulica atra, waders and c.400
Chlidonias leucopterus.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The area is not protected, but is within a military zone and as such receives some unintended protection from disturbance and hunting. It seems likely that the sewage system will eventually be upgraded, and the lagoons may well then disappear. Part of the site is included in the NCWCD System Plan for Protected Areas.
Data-sheet compiled by A. Stagg.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: King Faisal Airbase, Tabuk (Saudi Arabia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/king-faisal-airbase-tabuk-iba-saudi-arabia on 23/11/2024.
