Rakws Category: Birds

​Passage and winters in UAE

Scientific Name: Anus acuta

Size: male is 59–76 cm long, female is 51–64 cm long

Habitat: Sheltered estuaries, brackish marshes and coastal lagoons.

Diet: Mainly aquatic plants.

IUCN Status: Least Concern (LC)

The female is mainly mottled in brown and grey colour with shorter tail than the male.​

​Scientific
Name: Ardea cinerea

Size:  up 100 cm long, and 175 cm wingspan

Habitat: shallow
waters

Diet:
Mainly fish

IUCN Red
List Status: Least Concern​

Photo credit: Yousaf Al Ali

​Scientific Name: Ardea alba

Size: Length: 94 – 104 cm

Habitat: all kinds of wetlands both inland and coastal.

Diet: Fish, snakes, amphibians, insects and crustaceans.

IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern​

Photo credits: Yousuf Al Ali

​Passage hatched and winters in UAE

Scientific Name: Plegadis falcinellus

Size: 48–66 cm long

Habitat: Wet grasslands, inland wetlands, coastal lagoons and as well as mudflats.

Diet: Fish, crustaceans, insects, mollusks and occasionally fish.

IUCN  Red List Status: Least Concern

Other Status:  Annex II of CMS

Glossy Ibis have touch sensors on the bill which helps them to find their prey by just touching the surface with its long curved beak.​

​Resident breeder

Scientific Name: Charadrius alexandrinus

Size:  Length 15 to 17 cm; wingspan 35 to 45 cm

Habitat: Coastal areas usually found on sand, silt or dry mud surfaces.

Diet: mainly insects and their larvae, sometimes crustaceans and brine shrimps.

IUCN Status: Least Concern (LC)​