The disappearing Dead Sea has
provided this rare bird species not seen in the region since 1947 with new
nesting grounds
Feb 09, 2018 11:30 PM
In 2014, rangers from the Israel
Nature and Parks Authority arrested a number of foreign workers at Kibbutz Beit
Ha’arava, just north of the Dead Sea in the West Bank, on suspicions of illegal
hunting. When the rangers reenacted the alleged crimes with the suspects, the
kibbutz’s security coordinator told Erez Bruchi, one of the rangers, that the
night before he had hit a bird with his car.
The dead animal was still stuck
in the car’s grill and the security coordinator sent Bruchi a picture, which he
sent out to birdwatchers for help. The identification turned out to be a big
surprise. A number of birdwatchers raised the possibility that the bird was an
Egyptian nightjar (Caprimulgus aegyptius), which is crepuscular – most active
around nightfall and dawn. It feeds on insects and nests on the ground.
The last time an Egyptian
nightjar was seen nesting in what is now Israel or the West Bank was 1947;
since then it has occasionally been spotted in the far south in the Arava region
and the resort city of Eilat.
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