Bound From Romania to Africa : Flight-Weary Pelicans Find Israel a Welcome Pit Stop

Having dodged wild boar in Romania and the bullets of Lebanese militiamen, thousands of pelicans are gliding into Israel for a refueling stop on their migratory passage from Europe to Africa.

This marshy wildlife sanctuary in northern Israel hosts the fish-eating fowl twice a year, serving as a halfway haven on the birds’ 5,000-mile journey from nesting grounds in Romania to vacation spots on the lakes of Africa.

Navigating with the mysterious skills developed over the centuries, the weary birds arrive here in flocks of thousands, flying in near-military formations to land among the reeds on the fish-filled lakes and canals.

The birds arrive in Kenya by January and start leaving for the return trip to their European nesting grounds in February.

“It’s tough--16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) of arduous travel, and only a few months of rest and procreation,” said Eytan Glusman, director of the Hula Reserve sanctuary.

Millions of fish and about 70 species of birds live at the sanctuary.

“This is a great restaurant for them,” Glusman said of the pelicans. “We keep the fish here especially for them, but they have to work harder here to get at them because the water surface is far bigger than in the fish ponds,” which are run as commercial ventures.

The pelicans’ hardships begin in the delta of the Danube River on the Romanian-Soviet border, where wild boar and dogs prey on the helpless chicks. About 70 percent of the pelicans die in the first year of their lives, said Glusman.

The first flocks take off from Romania in May, crossing Balkan skies to Turkey and on to Lebanon, where militiamen have been known to use them for target practice.

From there they “hitch a ride” on the hot air streams that are a feature of the Syrian-African Rift that extends from Turkey to southern Africa.

The hot air carries them, saving the effort of propelling their heavy bodies. An average pelican weighs 26 pounds, and has a wingspan of about eight feet.

Israel, too, holds peril for the pelicans, who have run afoul of farmers and the army.

Several years ago a pelican was sucked into the engine of an Israeli air force jet fighter, causing the plane to crash into a mountain. Since then, planes are not allowed to fly over pelican territory at low altitudes, said Glusman.

Farmers in northern Israel devised several means of scaring off fowl who raid the fish ponds, but not until the pelicans polished off last year’s entire fish crop at Sassa, a nearby kibbutz, Glusman said.

The methods include firing gas-filled “scare cartridges” from hunting rifles to warn off the birds and posting sentries near the ponds.

Glusman said the most effective method is stretching wires over the ponds to prevent the birds from taking off after their meal. The pelicans, which require about 50 yards of waterway to gather sufficient speed for takeoff, see the wires on their reconnaissance survey of the pond and don’t land.

Glusman, who last year followed the birds with a camera on their migration from Europe to Africa, said the pelicans scoop up to nine pounds of fish into yellow pouches below their bills. Rough estimates indicate that as many as 30,000 of them visit Israel every year.