Songbirds

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The Passerine suborder is the largest among the Aves class. Songbirds are characterized by a large number of vocal chords, but despite their name, not all of them have beautiful voices...let’s listen to a few of them:

The Eurasian jay belongs to the Corvidae family, and like the other members of the family, it is also very clever. It is capable of imitating the voices of other animals. It sometimes meows like a cat, causing everyone to look up to search for the cat on the tree.

The great tit resides in this country all year round. It eats insects and helps regulate the quantities of insects in the area. Because of its benefits, its reproduction is encouraged. This is why many nesting boxes are set up for the great tit on trees, in residential neighborhoods, and next to kindergartens and schools.

The spur-winged lapwing don’t only nest near fish ponds and fields today, rather they live very close to humans, in cowsheds, and sometimes even in people’s yards. They build their nests on the ground, and when anyone approaches it, they respond with a loud shreeking attack in order to drive away the invader.

The European goldfinch is small in size but very wise. It primarily eats the seeds in thorns, and it knows how to pull them out of hidden locations. Because of the custom of feeding thistle seeds to chicks, it is called a hohit in Hebrew. It is very sociable and lives in communities of birds. Due to its beauty and bright colors, it is often the target of illegal hunting, which has caused its numbers to drop over the past decades.

Golden Oriole

The golden oriole usually hides between tree branches, with only its special whistle heard from afar. Its beautiful gold color gave it its name. It comes to Israel in August, on its way to Africa, as well as on its way back in the spring. It feeds primarily off of insects and builds its nest on the fork between two branches.

Among the rich variety of songbirds, notice that each bird has a bill that suits the type of food it eats. For example, the wagtail and the European robin have a tweezer-shaped bill that they mainly use for capturing insects and eating small fruit. The sparrow and the Fringilla have a thick, strong bill that looks like a small nutcracker, and they use it to collect and crack open small seeds.