A very rare visitor: A small songbird, which is very rare to find in Israel, was documented for the first time in the capital – on Jerusalem Day itself, which fell last Friday. The last time the bird was recorded buying rice was in 2017.
The rice cane was found at the Nili and David Bird Research Station of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, where it was taken to the Ariel Pavilion there, drowned, catalogued and released back into the wild. It is a relatively small songbird with a short wing and a long tail, which is only about 13 centimeters long.
Buying rice, photo: Yotam Gabbay - Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
Yotam Bashan, station manager and senior birder, where the bird was found, said: "At this season of late spring migration, we get to meet 'latecomers' – young or injured individuals for whom migration is more difficult, and who sometimes take a little longer to migrate. We don't know what caused the rare buyer to come to us, and we hope you will stay a little so we can watch it and learn about it."
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel notes that rice cane incubates in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, migrating to the Indian subcontinent. Its migration route runs east of Israel, which is why it is so rare in Israel. "As its name suggests, the Kenyan is fond of rice fields. Records of rice cane in Israel occur mainly in drowning activities, since then it is possible to identify the bird with certainty. To this day, it has been documented in places such as Eilat, Ma'agan Michael and Agamon Hula, but its arrival in the capital is particularly exciting," Bashan concludes.
The Nili and David Jerusalem Bird Research Station of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel is the first urban nature site of its kind in Israel, attracting hundreds of thousands of colorful birds and thousands of hikers and groups throughout the year. The research station, adjacent to the Knesset of Israel, preserves one of the city's most unique natural sites.
Tiny. Buying rice, photo: Yotam Gabbay - Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
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