ML638969439

Media notes

Equalized to lower human voices.

Observation details

A bird seemed to have hopped on the ground akin to a thrush, and then stood on a tree dense with branches, occasionally hopping from one branch to another. It turns out that there was a pair, and the birds preened and even sang together later on a different tree, slightly moving their tails, a bit like some cuckoo. Identified by slim long tail and grey-brown plumage like the mountain soil and the distinctive short unusually high-pitched chirping heard. Indeed a very distinctive songbird to be found in the UAE. Chirping even seemed to continue very shortly into the end of sunset, perhaps influenced by artificial lighting outside.

Additional species

• White-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis