Yemen Ramsar wetland
Detwah Lagoon
92 bird species recorded; the most from December to February.
Gerry & Bonni · CC BY 2.0
This month here
61 species in January.57 species in February.50 species in March.15 species in April.19 species in May.3 species in June.0 species in July.0 species in August.0 species in September.56 species in October.48 species in November.57 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
VU
VU
NT
NT
NTVU
VU
NTVU
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
VU
VUVUVU- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
92 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 92Speciesrecorded more than once
- 48Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 4ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 1,142Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 6Raptors
- 24Waders
- 19Gulls & seabirds
- 4Ducks & geese
- 9Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Flamingos
- 23Songbirds
- 6Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 92 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Egyptian vultureNeophron percnopterus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Socotra buzzardButeo socotraensisVU
- Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus
Waders24 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
- Eurasian CurlewNumenius arquataNT
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinus
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- Little StintCalidris minuta
- Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
- Temminck's StintCalidris temminckii
- RedshankTringa totanus
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaNT
- Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
- Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- RuffCalidris pugnax
- Greater Sand PloverCharadrius leschenaultii
- Pacific Golden PloverPluvialis fulva
- Cream-coloured CourserCursorius cursor
- Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnatilis
- Green SandpiperTringa ochropus
- Eurasian OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegusNT
Gulls & seabirds19 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Sooty GullIchthyaetus hemprichii
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- Lesser Crested TernThalasseus bengalensis
- Brown BoobySula leucogaster
- Great Crested-TernThalasseus bergii
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Slender-billed GullChroicocephalus genei
- Masked BoobySula dactylatra
- Persian ShearwaterPuffinus persicus
- Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Jouanin's PetrelBulweria fallaxNT
- Anous stolidusAnous stolidus
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Phaethon aethereusPhaethon aethereus
- White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterus
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
- Bridled TernOnychoprion anaethetus
Ducks & geese4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- GarganeySpatula querquedula
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
- Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
Herons, ibises & grebes9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Western Reef HeronEgretta gularis
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Socotra CormorantPhalacrocorax nigrogularisVU
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Indian Pond-HeronArdeola grayii
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
Flamingos1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Greater FlamingoPhoenicopterus roseus
Songbirds23 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Somali Chestnut-winged StarlingOnychognathus blythii
- Socotra SparrowPasser insularis
- White WagtailMotacilla alba
- Desert wheatearOenanthe deserti
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Lanius excubitorLanius excubitor
- Black-crowned Sparrow-LarkEremopterix nigriceps
- Brown-necked RavenCorvus ruficollis
- Long-billed PipitAnthus similis
- Socotra CisticolaCisticola haesitatus
- Socotra White-eyeZosterops socotranus
- Socotra CisticolaIncana incana
- Pale Crag MartinPtyonoprogne obsoleta
- Western Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava
- Sand MartinRiparia riparia
- Tree PipitAnthus trivialis
- Greater Short-toed LarkCalandrella brachydactyla
- Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
- Willow WarblerPhylloscopus trochilus
- Socotra StarlingOnychognathus frater
- Northern WheatearOenanthe oenanthe
- Isabelline wheatearOenanthe isabellina
- Red-backed ShrikeLanius collurio
Other birds6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Laughing DoveSpilopelia senegalensis
- Red-knobbed CootFulica cristata
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Lichtenstein's SandgrousePterocles lichtensteinii
- Forbes-Watson's SwiftApus berliozi
- Bruce's Green-PigeonTreron waalia
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species from December to February.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan26°/22°8 mm
- Feb27°/22°4 mm
- Mar29°/23°5 mm
- Apr31°/26°3 mm
- May31°/27°19 mm
- Jun29°/25°8 mm
- Jul27°/24°12 mm
- Aug27°/24°13 mm
- Sep28°/24°8 mm
- Oct29°/25°15 mm
- Nov29°/24°20 mm
- Dec27°/23°14 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Detwah Lagoon.
Protected lagoon in Socotra, Yemen
Detwah Lagoon is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Yemen.
92 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 1,142 open records.
The most recorded are the Sooty Gull, the Egyptian vulture and the Western Reef Heron.
5 species come for the summer, 43 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
4 are threatened worldwide, including Socotra Cormorant, Grey Plover and Socotra buzzard.
The most species are recorded from December to February.
Get there and watch
- ديطواحcampsite · 1.1 km · 1 within 10 km
- Qalansīyahnearest town · 2.8 km in a straight line
- Socotra Airport (SCT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 44 km in a straight line
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 1campsites within 10 kmديطواح
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Detwah Lagoon.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas11 mountains within 25 kmMa‘lih · 8.4 kmJabal Ţaydī‘ah · 9.5 kmJabal ‘Ayfah · 14 kmJizlhoh · 18 kmDi-Rahmum · 20 kmAbalān · 21 kmQāfuz · 22 kmJibāl Zūlah · 23 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q107778286) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 1,142 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
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