Photo Friday: Like a Bird to Your Mountain

Stand for Israel  |  November 1, 2019

“In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.'” (Psalm 11:1)

High atop Masada in the Dead Sea region of Israel, you’re sure to spot one of these feathered friends, Tristram’s Grackle.

“Discovered” in the mid-19th century and named for Reverend Henry Baker Tristram, a pastor who traveled to the Holy Land in 1858, 1863, and 1872 to identify locations from the Bible, this starling has blossomed because of humans. As more people, from tourists to locals, have arrived, this gregarious bird has flourished, happy to eat bugs from tour bus windshields and straight from people’s palms. And if you find yourself hearing someone wolf whistle, don’t be offended; that’s just this noisy little bird’s call! Shabbat shalom, friends.