Ferfer, the largest flower of the indigenous or naturalised and wildly-occurring trees in the UAE, is partial to the hills of the UAE.
However, Al Ain and Dubai have adopted the species as an ornamental avenue tree and it dots several roads here.
The red-vented bulbul is an introduced species in the UAE and established itself here in the beginning of the 1990s. It is now found in almost all cities in the country.
Adapting well
I have wondered how an alien species like the bulbul has established itself here, as it is basically a bird of the Indian subcontinent. However, when people brought it down to the UAE as a pet, the ones that escaped managed to find food and shelter aplenty in certain cities. With the greening alongside roadsides, especially planting of flowering trees and fruit and berry-bearing trees, they found the requisite food supplies.
New sources
As a species living close to human habitation, the bulbul has been utilising new-found sources for food, and parks and trees for resting and nest-building.
In recent times, bulbuls have found the ferfer flower to be a good source of nectar supply. While I cannot remember seeing any red-vented bulbuls visiting any naturally-occurring ferfer flowers in the past, I did see them doing so in my garden. It's good to see the bird adapting so well.
