The songbirds in Shekmona • by Sabrina de Rita

There are about 550 bird species in Israel, of which about 200 are songbird species. About 500 million birds pass through our country every year. Israel is a transition point between Europe, Asia, and Africa. Many of the birds migrate in the winter to Africa, because of the cold, and return in the spring, when it warms up. The songbirds can be recognized by the wonderful singing and the sounds they make. You can meet different songbirds all over the country.

As a resident of Haifa, one of my favorite places where I travel regularly is Shkoma. Tel Shikmona is an ancient mound, located on the seashore in the west of the city of Haifa, in front of the Ein Hayam neighborhood, not far from Hecht Park. The origin of the mound's name is unknown, one explanation is that it originates from a sycamore tree. The place was declared a nature reserve and a national park. In the past, archaeological excavations were conducted there. The site faces the sea, and is located near the seas and lakes research building.

What songbirds can you meet in Shekmona?

Red-backed wagtail, plover, black-throated woodpecker, plover, crow, barn swallow, crested lark and many others. It is possible that what enchants these songbirds that come to the ancient mound is the nearby field, because in the field there are insects, which are used as food for these birds. Among the songbirds I saw at Tel, we can mention the peshush, which is there all year round. You can easily identify the bugs, because they jump between the bushes and the thorns. The peshush is among the well-known songbirds in Israel. His name in Arabic is Pispis (Abu Zar), Ketanchik. He is really tiny, his body length is about 10 cm.

The Hebrew names of the birds

In the enclosed article he says that the person who gave some of the birds in Israel their Hebrew names, names that are familiar to us today, is Shalom Ya'akov ben Haim Moshe Abramovich, a book seller, who in 1862 published the first volume of the book "Natural History", which also deals with birds. Among the names he gave to the birds, is the name Nahliali. Mendeli was looking for a name with a Hebrew sound that would be related to a source of water, from the word Nahal and chose "Nakhliel", one of the places where the Israelites camped on their journey from Egypt to Canaan.

Songbirds in Shakmona - Haifa

Back to the songbirds in Shekmona.
For several years I have been walking around the site, photographing and documenting birds there. One of the special songbirds I saw in Tel, was the Cypriot Rock, a small and almost invisible bird, weighing 20 grams, with a dark back and crown, which feeds mainly on insects, and is considered a rare transient in the spring and autumn. It nests only in Cyprus, and winters in South Sudan and Ethiopia. In Israel its appearance is not regular.

Cypriot rockfish or by its scientific name, Oenanthe Cypriaca, a name that consists of a combination of wine (ainos in Greek) and flower (anthos in Greek) and the meaning is that it is a bird that returns to Greece in the spring when the vineyards bloom. Continuation of the name - cypriaca - Cypriot. This rock remained in Shekmona for a month. During this month, I met more people who came specifically to look for her. It is so small, and hard to see, because its colors are like the colors of the earth.

As mentioned, archaeological findings from different periods were uncovered at Tel Shekmona, including over 50 mosaic floors, one of which is written in Greek: "This place belongs to the happy (or good) days".
And maybe it's not just that the birds come to Shekmona, because they know there is magic in the place.