During the late winter and early spring, especially after an abundant rain season, colorful desert flowers and grasses cover most of the land.Kuwait has also recorded 30 species of desert mammals and approximately 300 species of birds.
1)Short eared owl:It is mostly found in open desert areas with scrub habitat that it can hide under during the day, it has also been recorded on farmlands.Rare winter visitor. An owl that lives in open areas; not requiring trees. Unlike other owls, this species will hunt during daylight making its presence obvious to hunters. Unfortunately these owls have been frequently shot by hunters at various locations in Kuwait.
2)Long-eared Hedgehog:The long-eared hedgehog is a small and rather pale hedgehog, with short spines covering the upper-parts of the body.Like other hedgehogs, these stiff spines, which are brown at the base and white at the tips, act as effective amour when the hedgehog rolls into a protective ball.The legs, feet and underparts are also whitish, the latter of which may be tinged with yellow.The long-eared hedgehog has a pale brown face, with a long, pointed snout and large, rounded ears.
3)Cakile arabica:Cakile species grow as annual plants with an erect or decumbent stem. The common species in Europe and North America grow close to the coast, often in dunes. Their leaves are fleshy. Flowers are typically pale mauve to white, with petals about 1 cm in length. Each fruit has two sections, one that remains attached to the adult, and the other which that falls off for dispersal by wind or water.
They are rather similar to those of the wild radish (also in family Brassicaceae) which is found in the same regions, and careful attention to the leaves and stems is needed to tell the two plants apart.
4)White-eared Bulbul:The white-eared bulbul is a member of the bulbul family. It is found in Kuwait, Bahrain, mid and southern Iraq, southern Iran,tehran Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, north-western India and more countries.It has a pale bare eye-ring. The vent is orange yellow.It is found in scrub forest and garden land. Also found in flocks or pairs in the mangroves, gorging on the fruits of the Meswak bush. Usually seen in pairs or small groups. It feeds on fruits and insects, and breeds in March–June.
5)Hoopoe:The hoopoe is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Most European and north Asian birds migrate to the tropics in winter. In contrast, the African populations are sedentary all year. The species has been a vagrant in Alaska; Hoopoes have been known to breed north of their European range, and in southern England during warm, dry summers that provide plenty of grasshoppers and similar insects,although as of the early 1980s northern European populations were reported to be in the decline, possibly due to changes in climate.
6)Greenshank:This is a subarctic bird, breeding from northern Scotland eastwards across northern Europe and Asia. It is a migratory species, wintering in Africa,usually on fresh water. It breeds on dry ground near marshy areas, laying about four eggs in a ground scrape.Common greenshanks are brown in breeding plumage, and grey-brown in winter. When in water, they can appear very similar to marsh sandpipers
but are distinguished by the shape of the lower bill which gives it an upturned appearance to the bill. They have long greenish legs and a long bill with a grey base. They show a white wedge on the back in flight.
7)Desert Lizard:Desert horned lizards prey primarily on ants (including red harvester ants,) crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, flies,lady bugs, meal worms and some plant material.They can often be found in the surroundings of ant hills, where they sit and wait for ants to pass by. When they find an area of soft sand, they usually shake themselves vigorously, throwing sand over their backs and leaving only their head exposed. This allows them to hide from predators and await their unsuspecting prey.Found in extremely diverse habitats. The flat-tailed horned lizard occurs in areas of fine sand, while the short-horned lizard is found in shortgrass prairie all the way up into spruce-fir forest. The most common species in the Arizona Upland subdivision is the regal horned lizard , which frequents rocky or gravelly habitats of arid to semiarid plains, hills and lower mountain slopes.
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