Have you heard of the white-tailed eagle?<\/p>\n
It has been spotted in Saudi Arabian skies for the first time in 20 years, according to The National<\/a>.<\/p>\n The migratory bird is a close relative<\/a> of the bald eagle, but it lives throughout Europe and Asia rather than in North America.<\/p>\n The two species have similar roles on their respective continents. They each mark the top of the local food chain and are a sign of a healthy ecosystem<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ali Al Faqih, a manager at the Wadi Thalbah Wetland, caught a glimpse of the flying eagle after it took a drink in the area. He was even able to snap a photo<\/a> to prove it.<\/p>\n “I could hardly believe my eyes,” he said, per The National. “Observing a rare bird in the reserve indicates to me that we are \u2026 providing migratory birds with a safe and productive environment to rest and feed during their long journeys.”<\/p>\n As the outlet explained, that desirable habitat has not always been there, at least for the white-tailed eagles.<\/p>\n The wetland where Al Faqih saw the bird is part of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve, which was established<\/a> in 2018. The region is home to immense biodiversity \u2014 including 247 different birds \u2014 yet the eagle typically stayed further north.<\/p>\n The bird’s reemergence could mean it can now extend its range, which would be welcome news.<\/p>\n Other biodiverse places around the world are shrinking due to rising global temperatures<\/a> and expanding human development. The success of species like the white-tailed eagle can combat that trend, strengthen ecosystems, and protect the resources that both humans and wildlife need to survive.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia has set a goal to protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030<\/a>. Those kinds of conservation projects are essential for safeguarding biodiversity in any habitat.<\/p>\n Monitoring efforts involving trail cameras and people in the field, like Al Faqih, can further inform proper stewardship.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you heard of the white-tailed eagle? It has been spotted in Saudi Arabian skies for the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[113838,131715,79589,90,56,54,55,131717,131716,4407],"class_list":["post-339329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-bald-eagle","tag-migratory-bird","tag-prince-mohammed-bin-salman","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wadi-thalbah-wetland","tag-white-tailed-eagle","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}