“If they don’t eat, they don’t fly,” is what one Israeli ecologist recently said in a Haaretz article on the new Pelican Restaurant, open for business in the Hula Valley.
Some 500 million birds will be flying through Israel this fall, as they migrate from Europe to Africa. Fish farmers in Israel, irate over birds pillaging their fish ponds have been known to open fire on the birds. To keep nature in balance, the government has approved NIS 300,000 to stock the Hula Valley pond with tons of fresh tilapia for the pelicans and storks to feed on.
I’d recently interviewed the chief avian ecologist for Israel, Oded Hatzofe, who talked with me about the immense numbers of environmental stressors birds face while migrating.
Competing with fish ponds is a small part of the problem. Hunting for fun, is a bigger problem, says Hatzofe, with 1 in 4 birds prey of prey found to have a lead bullet inside it. People in Arab countries, and minority populations in Israel, people in Africa, Malta, Greece and France (the only ones who hunt for food), are decimating bird populations.
Fragmented territories, decimated wildlife reserves and ponds, environmental hazards like electric wires, all take a toll.
For more on birding in Israel, see the Israel Birding website.
::Haaretz
[…] over designated fields, and the Agamon Lake is stocked with tilapia (see our comments on that here) to prevent heavy feeders like cranes from raiding agricultural fish ponds. Canals run through the […]
[…] After leaving the Golan we passed through the entrance to the Hulah Valley, through which run other Jordan River tributaries, including the Dan and Snir streams. The Hulah Valley runs parallel to the entire length of the Galilee “panhandle” and is Israel’s major migratory bird flyway, through which thousands of migratory birds including ducks, pelicans and storks pass annually. […]
As the old Cole Porter song goes:
“Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly…”
Israel’s ‘Pelican’ Restaurant feeds birds during fall fly-by: http://bit.ly/171Mi6
Israel’s ‘Pelican Restaurant’ feeds birds during fall fly-by: http://bit.ly/171Mi6
More cool news The Hula Valley Gets Stocked As Birds Prepare for “Pelican …: If they don’t e.. http://bit.ly/5iu6h
Israel stocks "Pelican Restaurant" with tilapia to help migrating pelicans and storks. http://bit.ly/Wsqhe
[…] rest is here: The Hula Valley Gets Stocked As Birds Prepare for “Pelican … Share and […]
The Hula Valley Gets Stocked As Birds Prepare for “Pelican Restaurant” http://ow.ly/15O1UZ
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dan Rhoads. Dan Rhoads said: Israel stocks "Pelican Restaurant" with tilapia to help migrating pelicans and storks. http://bit.ly/Wsqhe […]