Jerusalem Bird Observatory

The Taiga Flycatcher has been recorded at the observatory

The Jerusalem Bird Observatory is an urban bird observatory in Israel, sited on a 5000 m² plot in central Jerusalem between the Knesset and the Supreme Court.^[1] It has a strategic location on the bird migration route between Africa and Eurasia along the Great Rift Valley. Every spring and fall more than 500 million birds migrate through Israel. Two-thirds of the species seen in Jerusalem are migratory.

Established in 1994 by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the observatory serves as the national bird banding center.^[2] It was founded, and is directed, by nature artist Amir Balaban and ornithologist Gidon Perleman. Two hundred birds are banded every day by trained volunteers during the spring and fall migrations.^[1]

Rare birds

• Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus), sighted at the observatory in 2007^[3]

• Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), banded at the observatory on 29 April 2007^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Gems in Israel: The Jerusalem Bird Observatory
2. ^ The Capital's feathered friends., Esteban Alterman, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 24, 2008
3. ^ Rare bird is sighted in Jerusalem, By MEGAN JACOBS, Nov. 5, 2007, Jerusalem Post [1]
4. ^ Around the Region 2007, Israel, Dawn Balmer and Keith Betton, Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia[2]

External links

• JBO