ISRAEL: Flamingo birds find haven in southern Israel

Record ID: 395579

  • Title: ISRAEL: Flamingo birds find haven in southern Israel
  • Date: 5th January 2007
  • Summary: FLAMINGO BIRD IN WATER LOOKING FOR FOOD FLAMINGO BIRD HOVERING OVER SALT WATER POOLS MORE OF FLAMINGO BIRDS STANDING IN WATER MORE OF FLAMINGOS FLYING OVER POOLS, STANDING IN WATER WIDE OF FLAMINGOS STANDING IN WATER IN MIDDLE OF DESERT
  • Embargoed: 20th January 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Nature / Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA266ZXYOTEIX5RH08F5RBELTCH
  • Story Text: Short distance migrant Greater Flamingos settled on the edges of shallow salt water pools in Israel's desert hills.
    Every year around winter season, the 120-140 centimetre tall species leave their origin, on the Iranian-Turkish border, in seek for a sunny climate. Israel, a crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, serves as a stopover for more than half a billion migrating birds per year, due to its relatively warm temperatures.
    The pinkish-white plumage birds settled in salt water pools in Evrona, near Israel's Red Sea Resort city of Eilat, where they feed off of tiny pink crabs, which preserve their pinkish coat.
    Benny Shalmon, Ornithologist for the Nature and Parks Authority in Eilat, said that the Flamingos migration is not yet fully understood by researchers, but is widely explained by the presence of the small crabs in the shallow pools.
    "They found, I don't know how, that we have ferry shrimps, Atemia Salina, in those shallow pools behind, which are a part of the salt factory, and they come by tens or by hundreds, young and adults to feed, they come and fly back to Iraq. This is why we have them here, because they found a new source of food that is not natural for these desert habitats," he said.
    Like many other wild foul, the Greater Flamingos, which are found in parts of Africa, south and southwest Asia and southern Europe, usually leave cold Europe at fall en route to Africa for winter season.
    Israel's southern desert region attracts the birds due to its relatively warm temperatures all year round.
    The pat from the Greater Flamingo family have red wing coverts and black primary and secondary flight feathers. Their bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register