SUB-REGION
Horn of Africa
SIZE
Socotra is the largest island in an archipelago of four islands, including Abd al-Kuri, and three islets in the north-western Indian Ocean with a total land area of 3,974 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
A blend of Middle Eastern and African components in the avifauna
Approximately 190 recorded species
Endemics (E)
Jouanin’s Petrel (breeding) (NT)
Socotra Buzzard (VU)
Socotra Scops Owl (LC)
Socotra Cisticola (NT)
Socotra Warbler (LC)
Socotra Starling (LC)
Socotra Sunbird (LC)
Abd al-Kuri Sparrow (VU)
Socotra Sparrow (LC)
Socotra Golden-winged Grosbeak (LC)
Socotra Bunting (NT)
Birds best found on Socotra but occurring more widely (BT), including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Forbes-Watson’s Swift (ESS berliozi)
Socotra White-eye
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2)
Persian Shearwater (persicus)
Other taxa of interest, including ESS
Harlequin Quail (arabica)
Nubian Nightjar (ESS jonesi)
White-browed Coucal
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
Laughing Dove (ESS sokotrae)
Bruce’s Green Pigeon
Kentish Plover
Cream-colored Courser
Brown Noddy (pileatus)
Sooty Gull
Saunders’s Tern
Bridled Tern (antarcticus)
Red-billed Tropicbird (indicus)
Masked Booby (melanops)
Brown Booby (plotus)
Socotra Cormorant
Striated Heron (brevipes)
Indian Pond Heron
Western Reef Heron (schistacea)
Egyptian Vulture
Common Kestrel (archeri)
Great Grey Shrike (ESS uncinatus)
Brown-necked Raven
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark (melanauchen)
Pale Crag Martin (arabica)
Somali Starling
Long-billed Pipit (ESS sokotrae)
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting (ESS insularis)
MAIN HABITATS
Arid scrubland, mountains
BIRD AREAS
Socotra Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
22 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Wadi Ayhaft and Dixem Plateau on Socotra Island for endemic landbirds
Abd al-Kuri Island for the endemic sparrow
Between Socotra and Abd al-Kuri Islands for breeding seabirds including Jouanin’s Petrel and Persian Shearwater as well as Red-necked Phalarope on passage and Wilson’s Storm Petrel in summer
Khors and beaches for non-breeding migrants including Greater Flamingo, Pacific Golden Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Pin-tailed Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull (heuglini), Greater Crested Tern (velox), Lesser Crested Tern (bengalensis), Sandwich Tern and Common Tern
TIMING (Nov, Apr-May)
Best when most birds breed, during and after the rains (Oct-Dec, Apr-May)
Forbes-Watson’s Swift is absent Sep-Feb
Seabirds breed May-Sep
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of the Middle East (in English and Arabic)
Field guides
Birds of the Horn of Africa by Nigel Redman, Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe (2011)
Birds of the Middle East by Richard Porter & Simon Aspinall (2010), which is also available in Arabic
Birds of Eastern Africa by Ber Van Perlo (2009)
Fauna of the Socotra Archipelago: Field Guide by Wolfgang Wranik, O S Al-Saghier, S Aspinall, R F Porter & H Rösler (2003)
Further reading
Checklist of the Birds of the Socotra Archipelago by Richard Porter & Ahmed Saeed Suleiman (2020)
Yemen & Socotra, a trip report compiled by Niklas Holmström & Ulf Ståhle (2009)
The Lost World of Socotra: Yemen’s Island of Bliss by Richard Boggs (2009)
Socotra: a Natural History of the Islands and their People by Catherine Cheung & Lyndon DeVantier (2006)
Important Bird Areas in the Middle East compiled by M I Evans (1994)
Articles in Sandgrouse, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Socotra Archipelago – UNESCO World Heritage List
The Socotra Archipelago Project
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Yemen, which Socotra is politically part of
Bird or conservation organisations active on, or associated with, Socotra include –
The Socotra Wildlife Association (SWA)
Friends of Soqotra (FOS)
Yemen Society for the Protection of Wildife (YSPF)