|Location||United Arab Emirates, Sharjah|
|Central coordinates||56o 20.00' East 25o 0.00' North|
|Altitude||0 - 10m|
|Year of IBA assessment||1994|
Site description A tidal inlet stretching inland then parallel to the coast for 5 km southward, with three main channels lined with the oldest and most extensive Avicennia marina mangrove woodland in the UAE, and with extensive mudflats. The southern end of the inlet extends across the border into Oman at Khatmat Malahah. Gravel plains with Acacia tortilis savannah (part of the extensive Batinah coastal plain) stretch 5 km inland of the khor, rising towards the Hajar mountains. The primary human activity is recreation/leisure; some fishing and grazing of livestock occur to a lesser extent. Crabs are harvested in large numbers in the mangrove.
|Species||Season||Period||Population estimate||Quality of estimate||IBA Criteria||IUCN Category|
|Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris||breeding||1992||15-20 breeding pairs||good||B2||Least Concern|
|IUCN habitat||Habitat detail||Extent (% of site)|
|Land-use||Extent (% of site)|
|Notes: crab harvesting|
Other biodiversity Mammals: the dolphins Tursiops truncatus and Sousa chinensis (K) feed in the khor. Reptiles: sea-turtles feed in the creek, including Chelonia mydas (E) and Eretmochelys imbricata (E), and possibly Caretta caretta (V).
Acknowledgements Data-sheet compiled by Colin Richardson.
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Recommended citation BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Khor Kalba. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/12/2013
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