In a land with few ecologists and birdwatchers, little is known of the distribution and status of wildlife species there, but the main known breeding areas of one special bird, the Socotora cormorant, are a few rocky islands in the gulf. It is winter in the Persian Gulf now, and this cormorant, and many other species of waterbirds, are scattered over the gulf and along its shores awaiting spring.
The northern Persian Gulf and the vast wetlands between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Iraq form an important wintering area for many Palearctic migrants, birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia. Large concentrations of grebes, herons, egrets, ibises, geese, ducks, rails and shorebirds spend the winter in the northern Persian Gulf and in the riverine wetlands. Almost 50 species of shorebirds winter in this part of the world.
In late winter, migrants normally must forage all day to store enough fat reserves to migrate back to their nesting grounds. Indeed, some shorebirds feed both day and night to find enough fuel for their long journey.
The Persian Gulf is also the major breeding area for the crab plover, white-cheeked tern and the little-known Saunder's tern (a close relative of the least tern of North America). These species usually breed on low sandy beaches or low offshore islands that are washed over by storm tides during the winter, storm tides that will now deposit oil on their breeding grounds. In the spring, this oil will find its way onto the breast feathers of adults, who transfer it to their eggs during incubation. Even a minuscule amount of oil over the eggs is sufficient to decrease their hatchability and to cause embryonic deformities and death of the young.
