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List of birds of Bahrain

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer 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.

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 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 good at living in water. They have webbed feet and special feathers that keep them dry.

Pheasants, grouse, and allies

Order: Galliformes   Family: Phasianidae

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

Flamingos

Order: Phoenicopteriformes   Family: Phoenicopteridae

Flamingos are social birds that walk in shallow 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.

Grebes

Grebes are small to medium-sized birds that live in freshwater and love to dive. They have special toes that help them swim well, but 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 thin beaks. They live in Bahrain and include many kinds 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 look a bit like pigeons with small heads and necks. 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 to 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 in dry, open areas. They eat many types of food and lay their eggs on the ground. They walk with strong legs and have big toes while looking for food. Their wings are long and wide, and they can show beautiful patterns when they fly. Many bustards dance special dances 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.

Nightjars and allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are birds that fly at night. They lay their eggs on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short beaks. Most nightjars have small feet and are good at flying. Their feathers help them hide.

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. They only rest on tall, straight surfaces. Many swifts have long, curved wings.

The birds found in Bahrain include:

Rails, gallinules, and coots

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae

The Rallidae family has birds like rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. These birds live in wet places near lakes, swamps, or rivers with thick plants. They are often quiet and hard to see. They have strong legs and long toes for walking on soft ground. Their wings are short and round, so they are not very good at flying.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large birds with long legs and necks. They look a bit like herons but fly differently, holding their necks out in front. Many cranes do special dances when they want to find a mate.

Thick-knees

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Burhinidae

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

Stilts and avocets

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

Oystercatchers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Haematopodidae

The oystercatchers are large, noisy 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 necks and long, pointed wings. They live in open areas around the world, often near water.

Sandpipers and allies

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

The Scolopacidae family has many small to medium-sized birds that live near water. These include sandpipers, curlews, godwits, and shanks. They mostly eat tiny animals they find in mud or soil. Their legs and beaks are different lengths, which helps them share the same area without fighting over food.

Crab plover

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

Pratincoles and coursers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Glareolidae

The Glareolidae family has 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.

Skuas and jaegers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae

The Stercorariidae family has medium to large birds. They usually have grey or brown feathers and often have white marks on their wings. These birds build their nests on the ground in cooler places and travel far when they migrate.

Gulls, terns, and skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of birds that live near water. It includes gulls, terns, and skimmers. Gulls are usually grey or white, often with black marks on their heads or wings. They have strong beaks and webbed feet. Terns are also usually grey or white and often have black marks on their heads. Most terns catch fish by diving, but some eat insects from water. Terns can live a long time, with some living more than 30 years.

Tropicbirds

Tropicbirds are slim, white birds that live in warm oceans. They have long tail feathers and black marks on their heads and wings.

One type seen in Bahrain is the red-billed tropicbird.

Storks

Storks are large birds with long legs and necks. They walk in shallow water and have strong, long beaks. Storks are quiet but can clack their beaks to talk to each other near their nests. Their nests can grow very big and they sometimes reuse the same nest for many years. Many stork species travel far during the year.

Cormorants and shags

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

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

Pelicans

Pelicans are large water birds with a big pouch under their beaks. They belong to the order Pelecaniformes and the family Pelecanidae. Pelicans have webbed feet with four toes.

The birds 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.

Ibises and spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Threskiornithidae

The Threskiornithidae family has large birds that live on land and in shallow water, like ibises and spoonbills. These birds have long wings with flight feathers. They are strong fliers and can glide well.

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 that eats fish and lives all around the world.

Hawks, eagles, and kites

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

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

Barn-owls

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

Owls

Owls are 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.

Hoopoes

Order: Bucerotiformes   Family: Upupidae

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

Kingfishers

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with big heads, long, pointed beaks, short legs, and short tails.

Bee-eaters

Order: Coraciiformes   Family: Meropidae

Bee-eaters are colorful birds with bright feathers. They live in Africa, southern Europe, Madagascar, Australia, and New Guinea. They have thin bodies and long tail feathers, and their wings and beaks are long and pointed, like swallows.

Some bee-eaters you might see include:

Rollers

Rollers look like crows in size, but they are related to kingfishers and bee-eaters. They have bright blue and brown feathers. Rollers walk in a special way: two front toes are connected, but the outer toe is free.

Woodpeckers

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

Falcons and caracaras

Falconidae are birds that hunt during the day. They use their beaks to catch food, unlike hawks and eagles.

Old World parrots

Order: Psittaciformes   Family: Psittaculidae

Parrots have strong, curved beaks and stand upright. They have strong legs with claws. Many parrots are brightly colored. 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.

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.

Penduline-tits

The penduline-tits are small birds related to true tits. They mostly 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 places. They are usually brown or grey and live in areas like grasslands or scrublands.

Reed warblers and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Acrocephalidae

These birds are a bit bigger than small warblers. Many have brown feathers on top and lighter yellow or beige feathers below. You can see them in places with open woods, tall grasses, or reeds. They live in southern and western parts of Eurasia, and some are found far into the Pacific and in Africa.

Grassbirds and allies

Locustellidae are small birds that eat insects. They live 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 good at catching food while flying. They have slim bodies, long wings, and short beaks with wide openings. Their feet work well 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. Most are brown or black. A few 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 live in places like Eurasia, Wallacea, and Africa. These birds come in different sizes and colors, often green on top and yellow below, or sometimes greyish-green to greyish-brown.

Sylviid warblers, parrotbills, and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sylviidae

The Sylviidae family has small birds that eat insects. They live mostly in Europe, Asia, and some parts of Africa. These birds may not look special, but many have unique songs.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized birds that fly well and often 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 from the Old World. They have soft feathers and usually eat insects or small animals, often looking for food on the ground. Many thrushes are famous for their lovely songs.

Old World flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are small birds that live far from the Americas. They mainly eat insects and live in trees. These birds look different from each other, but they usually make loud, harsh calls instead of complex songs.

Hypocolius

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

Sunbirds and spiderhunters

Sunbirds and spiderhunters are small birds that like to drink sweet flower juice, called nectar. They also eat tiny bugs, especially when looking after their babies. These birds fly quickly with their short wings. Many can drink nectar while staying in one place, like hummingbirds, but they often land on a branch to feed.

Weavers and allies

Weavers are small birds related to finches. They eat seeds and have rounded, cone-shaped beaks. Many male weavers have bright colors, like red, yellow, or black, especially when they are ready to have babies.

Waxbills and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Estrildidae

The estrildid finches are small birds found in warm places, including Australasia. They stay together in groups and eat seeds. These birds have short, thick beaks that point forward, and their feathers come in many 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 tiny insects.

Wagtails and pipits

The family Motacillidae has small birds with medium to long tails, like wagtails and pipits. These birds are slender and eat insects. They 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 small birds that eat seeds. They have special beaks and many have unique head patterns.

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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.