Millions of Birds Migrating Over Israel This Week

The migration season is at its peak, and the passage of birds of prey is nearly behind us. Now the songbird migration is beginning, with white and yellow the wagtails crossing Israel on their way south.

"Yesterday, some 15,000 lesser spotted eagles passed over Israeli skies. These are nearly the last eagles that will pass us this migration season," explains Dr. Yoav Perlman, director of the Ornithology Center at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

According to him, "We still have a significant migration of black kites ahead of us, but apart from them, nearly all the large raptors have already passed through."

Photo: Dr. Yoav Perlman, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel

Dr. Perlman emphasises that raptors make up only a small portion of the total number of migrants that pass over us each migration season. "The truly large numbers are the songbirds, which pass through in the hundreds of millions, both in autumn and in spring."

Israel sits on one of the world's most important bird migration routes, and the stopover sites for migrating birds in Israel are of enormous international importance for ensuring the birds' safe passage. Most songbird migration takes place at night, and during the day they can be spotted when they descend to rest at their stopover sites.

Among the songbirds, the wagtails stand out this season and in these very days, known as the harbingers of autumn. White wagtails migrate in large numbers, in a migration that will continue into November.

The breeding grounds of white wagtails are in eastern and northern Europe and in western Asia. Some of the white wagtails will spend the winter with us, while others will continue their migration further south.

The stopover sites are found in natural areas, in agricultural areas and in urban areas.