Have you birded the Middle East?
Oh, I'm sure he must be familiar w/the books I mentioned--I suspect the stronger claim was just typical marketing hyperbole. I just didn't want anyone to be left with the impression that the region has not already been the focus of much birding interest, or that birding resources (at least in English) for the region are limited (there are many other books and papers besides the ones I mentioned).
I spent a good deal of my pre-teen up through college years (and a bit of time since) in the Middle East because my mother taught English as a second language at the university level for many years, first in Kuwait, then (after the invasion of Kuwait) in the UAE, Egypt, and Qatar. Our travels, through most of the countries in the region, were focused more on visiting important cultural sites (religious, archaeological) and talking with people that we met along the way than birding, but I've had an interest in natural history all my life so I took pains to identify the critters and interesting plants we encountered along the way (more focus on invertebrates, fish and reptiles at first, more time devoted specifically to birding in later years). We traveled in Iraq in 1989 (after the war w/Iran, before the invasion of Kuwait). It was a wonderful trip (though slightly scary, because tensions over the war were still high, and saddening, because the cost of the war to the people and civil society was obvious), and we were warmly welcomed everywhere we went (including visiting the mosques/shrines in Karbala and Mosul areas that have in recent years been desecrated by killing and damage to the buildings through terrorist acts and other violence), but it was tragic to see how successfully the southern marshes, a focal point in the wider region for much bird diversity, and long the protective stronghold of the marsh arab people, had been destroyed (I looked at time-series satellite imagery after the trip to better understand the extent of the damage that I could see on the ground). I know there has been some effort to restore the marshes, but as far as I know, the physical/biotic and cultural landscape there has been profoundly and permanently altered through canalization and the forced translocation of people by Saddam. I hate to end on such a sad note, so I'll just add that most countries in the region are excellent and safe places to travel. For example, the UAE and Oman are stunningly beautiful countries for natural history exploration, including birding, and there are good informational resources available for them now.
--AP
