Wild Israel takes you way up high,
on the wings of millions of birds.
In an annual ritual, these nomads cross the world
following familiar pathways.
And Israel offers a migration route for many of them,
from Europe and Asia to Africa.
Learn how these birds find their cross-continental path,
and how they survive the journey.
[Bells ringing]
In Israel, history is everywhere.
Religion and cultures have intersected over the centuries.
But the country is less known for its fascinating
wildlife and terrain.
[Chirping]
Explore an Israel most people never see.
[Chirping]
From snowy peaks to the world's lowest sea.
From Mediterranean beaches to lush waterfalls.
And from green mountains to ancient desert landscapes.
In these landscapes an amazing natural phenomenon takes place,
one of the greatest bird migrations in the world.
Twice a year, Israel's skies become
an aerial highway. 500 million birds hurry south
during autumn to their winter home in Africa,
And return north in spring to their nesting places
in Europe and Asia.
They pass over in large flocks or individually.
Some stop to rest and eat before continuing
on their journey.
Gliding birds, like pelicans, storks, eagles and buzzards,
cannot fly above the ocean.
They require currents of warm air created above land
that lift them up high.
[Squawking]
[Chirping]
Small birds like songbirds need places to rest
and gather food along the way. [Chirping]
Israel provides a land bridge between continents
and an important way-station for all.
[Squawking]
There's almost nowhere else on earth
where such a stunning spectacle takes place.
It is March, the beginning of spring.
Dozens of bird-watchers from around the world
gather in Eilat, on the shores of the Red Sea,
to take part in a special race that lasts 24 hours.
They will compete in national teams.
Their goal: spot and identify as many bird species
as possible in Israel's Negev desert.
For two days the competitors will map out in advance
the perimeter of the race course,
determine the most promising observation points,
and build their game plan. [Speaking]
The team that records the greatest number of species
will be crowned "Champion of the Flyways".
>> It's really special to witness the miracle of migration.
>> The race is organized by BirdLife International
and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
>> It's really a whirlwind trip for me, I've never been
anywhere near here,
So lots and lots and lots of new birds for me.
It's so exciting, all the teams from all different countries,
coming in to watch this incredible migration
and raise money for important conservation needs.
>> We'll do our best. -It's anyone's game and...
The main thing is we enjoy it and we raise lots of money
for conservation.
I know that we're going to lose,
So I'm relaxed about that.
>> The Finns look really really professional.
>> I've been here... Almost 60 times.
>> Have a lot of fun to join in the camaraderie,
to see this magical place.
These flights, the magnitude of this migration which is ...
..unmatched almost anywhere in the world.
>> From out of the blue, hundreds of thousands of raptors
that spent the winter in Africa are now migrating
to their nesting sites in Europe and Asia.
There, the lengthening days and abundance of food
will ensure successful rearing of their young.
The raptors migrate during daylight hours,
elevated by the warm air currents rising from the ground
These currents allow them to glide for great distances
without flapping their wings or wasting energy.
At the height of the migration 250 thousand Honey Buzzards
pass over the Eilat Mountains in one day!
The buzzards fly about 280 miles a day,
averaging 28 miles per hour.
Studies on the migration mystery show
that these day-time migrators navigate using
the Earth's magnetic field, the position of the Sun
and the topography beneath them.
The spring migration happens quickly.
These birds waste no time.
Among the passing raptors are also large flocks
of black and white storks.
Their journey covers 2485 miles.
In the evening they all land to rest on the mountain slopes.
In the morning they will continue their journey.
>> The race will start in a few hours.
The goal, the objective, is to see as many species
as possible in 24 hours.
I haven't been sleeping with anticipation
for a few days now, and it is upon us.
So Champions of the Flyway, bring it on!
>> Great. Are we ready?
>> Midnight. The competing teams set off on their way.
>> Yeah. -Yeah, yeah.
>> After a long drive through the night,
they reach the northern Negev. Here they meet the jewel
of desert birds: the rare MacQueen's Bustard.
>> It's very early in the morning, it's freezing cold.
I just found a MacQueen's Bustard.
>> Despite time pressure they stay to watch
a male perform his spectacular courting dance.
[Speaking foreign language]
The competitors hurry on to a cluster of waterholes.
birds that migrated all night land here in the early
morning hours, exhausted after crossing the Sahara desert.
Most of the small songbirds completed the distance
using the stars to navigate their way.
Flying at night allows them to escape the scorching sun,
and shields them from the eyes of their predators.
The spring awakening has brought birds here
from all around the world, and from those who reside
permanently in Israel as well.
During the day the migrators rest,
drink and eat in the open landscapes,
before the last part of their journey.
The waterholes are still full of winter rain
and there is enough water for everyone.
The teams race from the waterholes
to the Negev Highlands.
Here, in a small oasis, many songbirds gather.
>> What a great morning. I think we are up to 80 birds,
Eighty species.
A Griffon Vulture, yes.
Sitting, in the scope.
>> One more.
>> Seven minutes. -Come on guys,
schedule is tight, we've got to move.
Back to the gardens.
Come on, Martin.
Where have you been?
We've got dozens of things, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon,
Black stork, Sunbird, Greenfinch.
>> We have three ways of counting, and they're all going wrong.
I've got my tape recorder and I'm getting the numbers wrong,
David is writing it down, but then also trying to click.
And for either of us to do two things at once
is really confusing. -Because we're not women, that's why.
>> Onwards to the Negev canyons.
>> So far our morning has been full of surprises.
>> the American team gambles on making rare birds
their priority.
>> There.
There's the Bonelli's, over there.
We got the Bonelli's Eagle, which is what
we came sown here for. -Awesome.
And now we're only 20 minutes behind schedule.
>> The next destination,
the crowded bird-watching center in Eilat.
All the teams spend a long time here,
adding dozens of species to their lists.
During the busy migration period,
the competition over food is great.
The local birds and the migrating birds meet here,
maybe for the only time in their lives.
A local Egret tries to expel other egrets
that migrated here.
Red-necked Phalaropes from northern Europe
and flamingoes from the salt lakes of Turkey and Iran
meet at the pools.
Every spring the migrating flamingoes join
the hundreds of flamingoes that live in Eilat's salt pools.
[Squawking]
[Chirping]
A local family of Spur-winged Lapwings
face a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.
Their little chicks are already walking around on their own.
But the Lapwings naturally feel anxious that their chicks
will be preyed on by migrating raptors
that have landed to drink in their home pool.
But the spur-winged lapwings, dedicated parents,
attack the strangers with courage.
[Chirping]
The raptors will continue north within a day or two
and the area will calm down again.
[Chirping]
>> Where are they? -There were a couple...
Yeah. -They're sitting on the water.
>> I don't believe in miracles, but...
We need better help. Yeah.
We've got loads to do, loads of birds to see,
lots of sites to cover, and we're probably not going to get
them all done.
We've got about another hour of light
to get a couple more species.
We're going to see what we can do.
Go, go, go. -Go, go, go.
We might be... -Hold on, everybody.
Number 11... Who's number 11?
Come in, number 11.
[Speaking foreign language]
Let's got out of here.
>> After 24 sleepless hours, the exhausted competitors
return to Eilat,
each team bringing their precious list of birds.
>> Alright, let me just, before you put the clean one
let me just quickly look through it,
if there's anything weird.
>> We'd like to welcome you to the official award ceremony
of the first Champions of the Flyway.
The team with the highest checklist,
the winning team out of the international
Champions of the Flyaway Icons, the Cornell E-birders
If you could please come up here.
With 165 species.
>> Birds really are the answer.
We can use birds to bring people together.
I think that we...
>> No one is here for the prize money.
The race is a fundraiser, and all the money raised goes
to a chosen conservation project.
The spring migration through Israel lasts
for over two months.
Along the entire migration route from Israel's
south to its north, studies have been conducted
for several years.
[Speaking]
In the research station at the bird park in Eilat,
the birds are trapped in nets installed in thickets.
They are gathered quickly,
and within ten minutes are already sent on their way,
tagged with a ring marking the date and location
of the station.
North of here, on the coast of the Dead Sea,
is another tagging station.
Birds tagging is a common method used
all over the world to track migrating species
and study their migration routes and way of life.
>> This is the Nightingale, a very common bird in Europe.
It arrives here during the spring.
This is the south-est place in the world where it nests.
>> The Eurasian wryneck has a particularly flexible neck.
When excited, the head is shaken and twisted about
violently in all directions.
It is also tagged and sent on its way.
>> This is a beautiful male Dead Sea Sparrow.
It is a common bird in the Dead Sea, in the valley,
and it nests all along the Rift Valley,
from the Hula valley, all the way to the Arava.
We are doing a project on these birds,
trying to monitor their nesting habitats
and trying to understand how much they are
loyal to their nesting parts.
>> It is early summer.
The migrating birds have moved on,
and so have the bird-watchers.
But Israel is not empty.
The migrators' place is taken by the over summering birds,
that come to nest and spend the summer here.
Nature is at its height now, and all the birds,
both local and those over summering,
are busy nesting, brooding and rearing their chicks.
The Bulbul's chicks beg for food among the palm branches.
Syrian Woodpeckers feed their chicks in a crevice in the tree
The nesting season is short and intense.
Every ounce of energy is channeled towards
protecting and feeding the young.
The Bar-tailed Lark, nesting under a flowering shrub,
approaches carefully, wary of revealing
its chicks to predators like the fox.
[Chirping]
The Great Grey Shrike feeds five hungry chicks
among the Acacia branches.
[Chirping]
Two Scrub Warblers come to feed their chicks every few minutes.
They find protection among the thorns.
Others put their trust in the water.
Once an impressive, powerful flow,
much of the Jordan River's water is now being diverted
to irrigate the surrounding fields.
In the shallows of one of its tributaries,
where temperatures hit 40 Celsius,
a small colony of Black-winged Stilts build their nests.
These small islands are surrounded by water
and swampy mud that offers some protection from predators.
The chicks play in the shallow water
and just a few days old are already foraging on their own.
A flotilla of African sharp tooth catfish
approaches the nests.
They move in a dense pack, hunting and eating
anything that can't get away.
[Cheeping]
Big and hungry, the catfish try to reach the chicks.
One of the mothers calls to the chicks
to return to the nest but they don't listen to her.
Another mother stands as a shield
between the catfish and the chicks.
At the same time the males are busy fighting over territory
and expelling rival Black-winged Stilts.
The battle goes on and the mothers are forced
to deal with the catfish alone.
After long tense minutes the catfish move away
and continue downstream. Finally calm is restored.
Summer crops have been harvested
and all the fields were plowed.
The undisputed rulers of the summer fields
are the Short-Toed Eagles that came from Africa
to nest in Israel...
and take advantage of the farmer's hard work.
Plowing exposes an abundance of reptiles and rodents.
The short-toed eagle specializes in hunting snakes;
true to its name, its toes are short and gnarled
to help it hold onto the slippery meal.
And although not immune to the snake's venom,
the eagle can catch even the most poisonous vipers
without getting bitten.
A pair of short-toed eagles returns each year
to its permanent nest, renovates it
and raises a single chick each summer.
The mother and the hungry chick wait impatiently
for the father to return with fresh prey.
He hovers over the plowed field,
scanning it with his sharp eyes.
But only when the female sets out to help him do they succeed
[Screeching]
and return to the nest with the longed-for meal,
a fat Sand Boa.
[Chirping]
During its first days the chick eats only small pieces of prey,
but later it will swallow snakes whole.
[Chirping]
Two and a half months the adult partners rear their chick,
feeding him with a great variety of reptiles:
snakes, lizards and chameleons.
With such plentiful food, it grows rapidly,
and its white down is replaced by dark plumage.
Towards the end of summer the chick already glides with its
parents above the fields and attempts its first hunt.
There's never a dull moment!
The falling darkness calls for the changing of the guard.
The night raptors set out to the hunting fields.
The barn owl, a large, common raptor in Israel,
lives among palm branches or in old roofs,
and hunts rodents with great skill.
Its eyes are located in the front of its face
and give it three-dimensional vision.
Aided by its extremely sensitive sense of hearing,
the owl can track down tiny prey in a huge field
at night and it attacks in perfect silence.
In the first years of the 21st Century, a group
of scientists and farmers introduced the barn owl
into these fields, hoping they would serve
as a clean "green" form of pest control.
Motty Charter has been leading the research for several years.
His studies show that a nesting pair
captures up to 6000 rodents a year.
When young, each owl was tagged with a ring
allowing researchers to track it through life.
The experiment was such a success, 3000 nesting boxes
have been installed in other farming areas, 200 of them
in this valley alone.
Some valleys now have the densest population
of Barn Owls in the world.
About 230 pairs per 62 square miles.
About five times higher than the US.
>> We also check the diet of the Barn Owl
and we collect Barn Owl pallets and within these pallets,
we know exactly which of rodent the owls eat,
which is very important because we want to make sure
the owls eat rodent pest and not other species
that don't cause damage to agriculture.
>> It's difficult to know exactly what these nocturnal birds
are up to at night. Or even where they prefer to hunt.
To locate these hunting grounds, researchers
recently attached GPS transmitters to a group of owls.
This information showed the researchers
where to build nesting boxes to support the owls in the area.
In late summer all the chicks leave the nest.
A new season begins.
It is still hot here in Israel, but in the northern countries
the daylight hours are already shortening,
activating the migrating instinct
throughout the bird universe.
Vast flocks set off on their southward journey.
Some of them just pass over on their way to Africa;
others stay for the winter.
Dozens of species of water birds fill the pools,
including song birds and raptors.
Red-footed falcons, beautiful, fast raptors,
fly slowly over Israel and are in no hurry.
[Chirping]
The comfortable climate and the abundance of insects
in the harvested fields keep them here for about two weeks.
The male falcon is easy to identify,
all dressed in grey and black,
and the female has a brownish head and chest.
[Chirping]
The young one in his first year of life is a mix of both.
[Chirping]
Among the autumn migrators the White Storks really stand out,
about 500 thousand of them pass over in massive flocks,
and a large number of them stop to rest
and to refuel in the fields of Israel's north.
[Chirping]
In the northern valleys they take advantage
of this automated irrigation device,
flooding everything beneath the surface.
Like burrows dug by rodents, mainly Social Guther's Vole.
In this instance, the storks wait for a vole
to escape from its flooded burrow.
After two days' eating and rest in the field,
they continue southward,
gliding over the roofs of Jerusalem,
to the Judean Desert and the Negev.
The autumn clouds come with them.
The storks rest on the mountain slopes
and in the open desert landscapes.
And onwards to Eilat,
the last stop for food and water before entering
the Sinai Desert, on the way to Africa.
Last summer a few storks stayed to nest in
a small village in northern Israel,
and did not continue to Europe with the flock.
Rangers of the Nature and Parks Authority and researchers
from Tel-Aviv University climbed up to the nest.
Each chick was taken carefully from the nest
and a transmitter was attached to its back.
The mother stork waited patiently until
this intrusion ended.
Very few storks nest in Israel;
this is a golden opportunity to study
their flight and migration patterns.
Once the last researcher disappeared, she hurried back
to her chicks, fed them, and perhaps examined
the strange contraptions that seemed to grow from their backs
The transmitter will also give researchers
precise information about the route of flock advancement,
the location of its overwintering site
and the speed of the journey.
The mother, and her two young, only six months old,
now join the massive flock, making their
autumn journey 2500 miles to South Africa.
For all these migrating birds, Israel is the last
refueling station before crossing the arid Sahara Desert
Landing in the Sahara means almost certain death
from heat and thirst.
While they stop to rest and feed here,
all these bird are protected by state law from being hunted.
That's not the case in other countries
along their flight path.
The great southern migration creates complex challenges.
Fifty thousand pelicans migrate through Israel
on their way from Eastern Europe
to the lakes of the African rift valley.
In the past they landed in swamps and lakes.
Today these are manmade pools to breed fish.
The thousands of pelicans that landed every year
on these pools decimated the fish population.
This caused local farmers significant economic damage.
The farmers tried to drive the pelicans away and some
even resorted to shooting these innocent intruders.
But the migrating pelicans needed to rest and eat
before they continued on their journey.
They kept landing again and again in the pools.
The conflict between the pelicans and the farmers lasted
for the entire migration period.
And seemed poised to go on and on.
And then several years ago, the Nature and Parks Authority
came up with an idea.
This isn't a garbage truck dumping trash.
It's tons and tons of fish. And it's all for the pelicans.
They're not afraid of the truck or the driver.
They know this means a fresh and generous
serving of their favorite meal.
This delivery is repeated for a few weeks, and helps shorten
the pelicans' stay in Israel.
And safeguards the farmers' supply of fish.
[Quacking]
When they had their fill the pelicans continue
on their journey.
One of the main routes for the migrating birds
follows the cliffs of the Great Rift Valley.
The hot air rising from the Judean Desert lifts them up
and carries them along.
Every carcass down below becomes a welcome stopover.
[Cawing]
The migrator's exhausting journey
is a period of abundance for others.
The sooty falcon is one of Israel's most unique
autumn visitors. During this period, when most of the birds
fly south to the heat, it comes here from East Africa
to nest in the Negev cliffs.
Unlike most of the birds that nest in Israel,
autumn is when the sooty falcon rears its young.
The timing is excellent.
The autumn migration of songbirds provides the falcon
with all the food it needs.
Call it collecting road tax from the passing traffic.
[Chirping]
The male brings the food to the female
and she gently feeds her chicks in the nest.
[Chirping]
Winter comes, and with it the rains,
but temperatures remain moderate.
[Squawking]
Large flocks of birds that arrived in autumn
enjoy a pleasant, comfortable home.
They do not continue to Africa, but stay until spring.
They are the overwintering birds.
[Chirping]
[Rain falling, chirping]
Half an hour before sunset, an incredible performance begins.
Huge flocks swirl around in the sunset sky,
changing direction and shape in perfect acrobatic unison.
These are starlings.
Hundreds of thousands of them gather each day
in the thicket of nests along the Negev rivers,
a safe sleeping arrangement.
The starlings land in the thicket sounding like
a waterfall, and their stormy conversations continue
until night falls.
Winter here is not harsh, however in northern Israel
the Hermon mountain range is covered
with snow for a few months.
The rain water and run-off from the melting snow
gather in the rivers of the Golan Heights and the Galilee.
Flowing from the oak thickets to the deep
Syrian-African rift valley and into Lake Hula.
This area has seen a remarkable ecological comeback.
Decades ago, swamps, marshland and the lake itself
were drained.
But the drainage went too far, a thriving but delicate
ecosystem was destroyed in the process.
Realizing the mistake a part of the valley was re-flooded
and Lake Hula slowly came back to life.
And in the process emerged an ideal refuge
for tired, hungry travelers.
The nighttime fog covers the lake's surface,
but at first light the fog dissipates to reveal
the wakening valley and the flocks that will
overwinter here.
One hundred thousand Common Cranes have completed
their nesting season in Europe and Asia and will migrate
through Israel, but about forty thousand of them
stay behind through the winter.
These cranes migrate and overwinter as families,
two parents and one young.
The young do not yet have the red 'hat'
characteristic of the adults.
As more and more land was farmed in the Hula Valley,
more and more cranes were attracted to all the food
and water.
Thousands chose to stay in the region
instead of continuing south.
These unwanted visitors infuriated the farmers
also struggling to make a living here.
Forty thousand legs trampled and crushed the soft
autumn seedlings in the fields leaving behind bald patches
that needed to be re-planted.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
was summoned to find a solution.
And they did.
An approaching noise startles the flocks.
A few years ago farming was stopped
in some of the fields in this valley.
Now a few times a day a tractor comes
bearing gifts for the noisy visitors.
Thousands of pounds of delicious corn.
These offerings minimize the flocks' destructive
wandering in the fields.
That's good news for the farmers and the harvest.
Thanks to these generous servings, the Hula Lake became
an attractive gourmet restaurant for the cranes,
and an international tourist attraction.
Another innovation did not take long to appear.
A tractor coupled to a trailer, hauling bird watchers
all greeted by the cranes with almost complete indifference.
The bird wars are over.
With the cranes morphing from a nuisance to an economic
and social stimulus, now everyone benefits.
The cranes are not the only winter visitors to Israel.
Raptors come from throughout Eurasia to overwinter
in the valley, taking full advantage
of all the abundant food here.
Different species of eagle, Buzzard and Harrier
hunt rodents and also feed on the water birds
gambling that a winter stay here would be safer
than the long trip to Africa.
Recently a species that has never lived in this region
came to the valley.
This pair of Black-Winged Kites were migrating overhead,
saw all the food on display and stayed as permanent residents.
Today dozens of pairs nest here, hunting rodents
all over the Hula valley.
[Chirping]
An entire year has passed and spring arrives.
By now, the overwintering birds have left.
From the south, storks pass over Israel's skies again
on their way north to their nesting sites.
They are just the beginning of an incredible mass movement.
Millions of migrating birds manage to overcome a range
of dangers on this great journey each year.
Spring brings another flock of visitors bird watchers
from around the world here to bear witness
to the incredible odyssey.
And celebrate the triumph of life over death.
♪♪