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List of birds of Bahrain

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

Bahrain is a special place for many kinds of birds. This list talks about 358 different bird species that have been seen in Bahrain. Some of these birds were brought to the country by people, and these are called introduced birds.

The way this list groups the birds and gives them names follows the rules used in The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, from the year 2022. This helps everyone use the same names and groups when talking about birds.

Some tags are used to show special groups of birds. For example, birds marked (A) are accidental, meaning they only visit Bahrain very rarely. Birds marked (I) are introduced, meaning people brought them there. And birds marked (Ex) are extirpated, meaning they used to live in Bahrain but don’t anymore, even though they can still be found in other places.

Ostriches

The ostrich is a large bird that cannot fly. It comes from Africa and is known for being the biggest bird alive today. Ostriches have long necks and legs and can run very fast.

Ducks, geese, and waterfowl

Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae

Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are well-suited to life in water with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that keep them dry due to a special oily coating.

Pheasants, grouse, and allies

Order: Galliformes   Family: Phasianidae

The Phasianidae family includes birds like quails, partridges, snowcocks, francolins, spurfowls, tragopans, monals, pheasants, peafowls, and jungle fowls. These birds are usually plump with short, broad wings.

Flamingos

Order: Phoenicopteriformes   Family: Phoenicopteridae

Flamingos are social birds that walk in water. They are usually between 3 to 5 feet tall and live in many parts of the world. Flamingos eat small sea creatures and algae by filtering them through their special beaks, which they use upside-down.

Grebes

Grebes are small to medium-sized birds that live in freshwater and love to dive. They have special toes that help them swim really well, but because their feet are far back on their bodies, they are not very good at walking on land.

Some grebes found in Bahrain include:

Pigeons and doves

Pigeons and doves are birds with short necks and slender bills. They are found in Bahrain and include several species such as the rock pigeon, stock dove, European turtle-dove, Eurasian collared-dove, African collared-dove, laughing dove, and Namaqua dove.

Order: Columbiformes   Family: Columbidae

Sandgrouse

Order: Pterocliformes   Family: Pteroclidae

Sandgrouse birds have small heads and necks like pigeons, but their bodies are strong and compact. They have long, pointed wings and sometimes tails, and they can fly quickly and directly. Groups of sandgrouse fly to places where they can drink water at dawn and dusk. Their legs are covered in feathers all the way down to their toes.

Bustards

Bustards are large birds that live on dry, open lands. They eat many kinds of food and lay their eggs on the ground. They walk with strong legs and have big toes, looking for food as they move. Their wings are long and wide, and they can show beautiful patterns when they fly. Many bustards have special dances to show off to find mates.

Cuckoos

Order: Cuculiformes   Family: Cuculidae

The Cuculidae family includes birds like cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds have slim bodies, long tails, and strong legs. Some cuckoos from the Old World leave their eggs in other birds' nests to be cared for.

Nightjars and allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are birds that are active at night and usually lay their eggs on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short beaks. Most nightjars have small feet that aren't great for walking, but they are good at flying. Their feathers are soft and help them blend in with tree bark or leaves.

Swifts

Swifts are small birds that spend most of their time flying. They have very short legs and don't like to land on the ground. Instead, they only rest on tall, straight surfaces. Many swifts have long, curved wings that look like a crescent or a boomerang.

The birds found in Bahrain include:

Rails, gallinules, and coots

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae

The Rallidae family includes birds like rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. These birds usually live in wet places near lakes, swamps, or rivers, where there is thick plants. They are often quiet and hard to see. They have strong legs and long toes, which help them walk on soft ground. Their wings are usually short and round, so they are not very good at flying.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Gruidae

Cranes are big birds with long legs and necks. They look a bit like herons but fly differently, holding their necks out in front instead of pulling them back. Many cranes have special, loud dances when they want to find a mate.

Thick-knees

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Burhinidae

Thick-knees are a group of birds that mostly live in warm places around the world. Some of them also live in parts of Europe and Australia that have milder weather. These birds have strong black or yellow-black beaks, big yellow eyes, and clothes that help them hide. Even though they are called waders, most of them prefer dry or partly dry areas.

Stilts and avocets

The stilts and avocets belong to a family of large birds that walk in water. Avocets have long legs and curved bills, while stilts have very long legs and straight, thin bills. There are 9 kinds of these birds around the world, and Bahrain is home to 2 of them.

Oystercatchers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Haematopodidae

The oystercatchers are big, loud birds that look like plovers. They have strong beaks that they use to open molluscs.

Plovers and lapwings

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae

The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels and lapwings. These birds are small to medium-sized with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, pointed wings. They live in open areas around the world, especially near water.

Sandpipers and allies

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

The Scolopacidae family includes many types of small to medium-sized birds that live near water, such as sandpipers, curlews, godwits, and shanks. These birds mainly eat tiny animals they find in mud or soil. Their legs and beaks come in different lengths, which helps them share the same area without fighting over food.

Crab plover

The crab plover is a special kind of bird that looks a bit like a plover but has very long grey legs and a strong, heavy black beak, much like a tern. It has black-and-white feathers, a long neck, and its feet are partly webbed, which helps it catch crabs.

Pratincoles and coursers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Glareolidae

The Glareolidae family includes special birds called pratincoles and coursers. Pratincoles have short legs, long pointed wings, and long forked tails. Coursers have long legs, short wings, and long, pointed bills that curve downwards.

Skuas and jaegers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae

The Stercorariidae family includes medium to large birds, usually with grey or brown feathers and often white marks on their wings. These birds lay their nests on the ground in cooler areas and travel far for migration.

Gulls, terns, and skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds, including gulls, terns, and skimmers. Gulls are usually grey or white, often with black markings on their heads or wings. They have strong, longish beaks and webbed feet. Terns are also usually grey or white and often have black markings on their heads. Most terns catch fish by diving, but some eat insects from the surface of fresh water. Terns are known for living long lives, with some living more than 30 years.

Tropicbirds

Tropicbirds are slender, white birds that live in tropical oceans. They have very long tail feathers and black markings on their heads and wings.

One kind found in Bahrain is the red-billed tropicbird.

Storks

Storks are big birds with long legs and necks. They walk in shallow water and have strong, long beaks. Storks don't make much noise, but they can clack their beaks to talk to each other near their nests. These nests can get very big and they sometimes use the same nest for many years. Many stork species travel long distances during the year.

Cormorants and shags

The cormorants and shags are a group of medium to large birds that live near the coast and eat fish. They belong to the family Phalacrocoracidae and are part of the order Suliformes. Most of these birds have dark feathers, but some have black-and-white feathers, and a few have colorful feathers.

Some types of cormorants and shags found in this area include the Great cormorant and the Socotra cormorant.

Pelicans

Pelicans are large water birds known for the big pouch under their beaks. They belong to the order Pelecaniformes and the family Pelecanidae. Like other birds in this group, pelicans have webbed feet with four toes.

The birds found in this group include:

Herons, egrets, and bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae

The family Ardeidae includes birds called bitterns, herons, and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large birds that walk in wetlands. They have long necks and legs. Bitterns are smaller and more careful. When herons and egrets fly, they pull their necks in, which is different from other long-necked birds.

Ibises and spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Threskiornithidae

The Threskiornithidae family includes large birds that live on land and in shallow water, such as ibises and spoonbills. These birds have long, broad wings with 11 main flight feathers and around 20 smaller ones. Even though they are big and heavy, they are strong fliers and can glide easily through the air.

Some birds in this family found in Bahrain are:

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Pandionidae

The osprey is the only bird in the Pandionidae family. It is a medium-sized bird of prey that mainly eats fish and can be found all around the world.

Hawks, eagles, and kites

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey, which includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures. These birds have strong hooked beaks for tearing their food, powerful legs, sharp talons, and excellent eyesight.

Barn-owls

Barn-owls are medium to large owls known for their big heads and special heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs and powerful claws for catching prey.

Owls

Owls are small to large birds that are usually active at night. They have big eyes that face forward, a beak like a hawk, and a special ring of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Hoopoes

Order: Bucerotiformes   Family: Upupidae

Hoopoes are birds with black, white, and orangey-pink feathers. They also have a big, fluffy crest on their heads.

Kingfishers

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.

Bee-eaters

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Meropidae

Bee-eaters are a group of colorful birds. They are mostly found in Africa, but you can also see them in southern Europe, Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea. They have bright feathers, thin bodies, and long tail feathers. They look a bit like swallows because of their long, pointed wings and beaks.

Some bee-eaters you might find include:

Rollers

Rollers look similar in size to crows, but they are more closely related to kingfishers and bee-eaters. They have bright colors, mostly blue and brown. Rollers have a special way of walking: their two front toes are connected, but the outer toe is free.

Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers are birds that have strong beaks for pecking at trees, short legs, and stiff tails. They use their long tongues to catch insects. Some woodpeckers have two toes that point forward and two that point backward, while others have only three toes. Many of these birds tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Falcons and caracaras

Falconidae is a family of birds that hunt during the day. Unlike hawks, eagles, and kites, these birds use their beaks to catch their prey instead of their talons.

Old World parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittaculidae

Parrots are known for their strong, curved beaks, upright posture, and strong legs with clawed feet. Many parrots are brightly colored, and some have many colors. They range in size from about 8 cm (3.1 in) to 1 m (3.3 ft) long. Old World parrots live in Africa, south and southeast Asia, Oceania, Australia, and New Zealand.

Old World orioles

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Oriolidae

The Old World orioles are colorful birds that sing beautifully. They are different from the orioles found in places like America.

Shrikes

Shrikes are birds that catch other birds and small animals. They often put parts of their food on thorns to keep it fresh. Shrikes have a hooked beak, similar to birds of prey.

Crows, jays, and magpies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae

The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers and ground jays. These birds are usually larger than other Passeriformes and some of them are known to be very clever.

Penduline-tits

The penduline-tits are small birds that are related to true tits. They mainly eat insects.

Larks

Larks are small birds that live on the ground. They often sing beautiful songs and can fly in special ways to show off. They mostly eat insects and seeds.

Cisticolas and allies

The Cisticolidae are small birds that live in warm areas. They are usually brown or grey and can be found in places like grasslands or scrublands.

Reed warblers and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Acrocephalidae

These birds are usually a bit larger than typical warblers. Many have plain brown feathers on top and lighter yellow or beige feathers below. You can often find them in places with open woods, tall grasses, or reeds. They live mostly in southern and western parts of Eurasia, but some can also be found far into the Pacific and in Africa.

Grassbirds and allies

Locustellidae are small birds that eat insects. They live mainly in places like Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. These birds often have long, pointed tails and are usually brown or buff-colored.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Hirundinidae

The Hirundinidae family of birds is made for catching food while flying. They have slim bodies, long wings, and short beaks with wide openings. Their feet are good for sitting on branches but not for walking, and the front toes are partly connected together.

Bulbuls

Bulbuls are medium-sized songbirds. Some have bright colors like yellow, red, or orange on their faces or bellies, while most are plain and brown or black. A few species even have crests on their heads.

The birds found in Bahrain include:

Leaf warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Phylloscopidae

Leaf warblers are small birds that eat insects. They are mostly found in places like Eurasia, Wallacea, and Africa. These birds come in different sizes and colors, often having green feathers on top and yellow below, or sometimes they are more subdued with greyish-green to greyish-brown colors.

Sylviid warblers, parrotbills, and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sylviidae

The Sylviidae family includes small birds that eat insects. They are mostly found in Europe, Asia, and some parts of Africa. While they may not look very special, many of these birds have unique songs.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized birds that fly strongly and move in groups. They like open spaces and eat insects and fruit. Their feathers are usually dark and shiny.

Thrushes and allies

The thrushes are birds that mainly live in the Old World. They are soft-feathered and usually eat insects or other small animals, often finding food on the ground. Many thrushes are known for their beautiful songs.

Old World flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large group of small birds that live in places far from the Americas. They mainly eat insects and live in trees. These birds look very different from each other, but they usually don't sing complex songs and make loud, harsh calls.

Hypocolius

The grey hypocolius is a small bird from the Middle East. It looks similar to a waxwing and has soft feathers. Most of its body is a uniform grey colour, but males have a black triangle-shaped mark around their eyes.

Sunbirds and spiderhunters

The sunbirds and spiderhunters are tiny birds that love to drink sweet flower juice, called nectar. They also eat tiny bugs, especially when taking care of their babies. These birds fly quickly and straight with their short wings. Many of them can drink nectar while hovering in the air, similar to hummingbirds, but they often stop on a branch to feed.

Weavers and allies

The weavers are small birds related to finches. They eat seeds and have rounded, cone-shaped beaks. Many male weavers have bright colors, often red, yellow, or black, especially during the breeding season.

Waxbills and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Estrildidae

The estrildid finches are small birds found in warm parts of the world, including Australasia. They like to stay together in groups and eat seeds. These birds have short, thick beaks that point forward, and while they look similar, their feathers come in many different colors and patterns.

Old World sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small birds. They are usually brown or grey with short tails and strong beaks. These birds eat seeds and also like to eat tiny insects.

Wagtails and pipits

The family Motacillidae includes small birds with medium to long tails, such as wagtails and pipits. They are slender birds that eat insects and live in open areas.

Finches, euphonias, and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Fringillidae

Finches are small birds that eat seeds. They have strong, cone-shaped beaks and fly by flapping their wings and gliding. Many finches sing beautifully.

Old World buntings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Emberizidae

The emberizids are a large group of small birds. They eat seeds and have special beaks. Many of these birds have unique patterns on their heads.

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This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on List of birds of Bahrain, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.