Discovery on our backyard – first birds
Like many other kids, who saved their pennies in children saving program, I received an encouraging gift from the bank: Our County’s Birds Guide, with the beautiful paintings of Walter Ferguson, describing the 100 commonest birds of Israel, and this White-breasted Kingfisher on the cover:
Like many other Kids’ book shelves, this booklet was laying there useless. But one day, as I wondered around my parents’ garden, I noticed a colorful bird. I urged into the house, picked the booklet, and probably identified my first Great Tit, without understanding that this moment will change my life forever.
At that times of course, I had no idea what is a species, genus or a family, but actually, all these early birds, were the foundations of my life project – Bird Families of the World.
These are my first 18 families:
1. Family #16: Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae) | Laughing Dove
2. Family #84: Hoopoes (Upupidae) | Eurasian Hoopoe
3. Family #90: Kingfishers (Alcedinidae) | White-throated Kingfisher
4. Family #102: Woodpeckers (Picidae) | Syrian Woodpecker
5. Family #107: Old World Parrots (Psittaculidae) | Rose-ringed Parakeet (introduced)
6. Family #166: Shrikes (Laniidae) | Masked Shrike
7. Family #167: Crows, Jays, and Magpies (Corvidae) | Eurasian Jay
8. Family #190: Swallows (Hirundinidae) | Barn Swallow
9. Family #191: Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) | White-spectacled Bulbul
10. Family #192: Leaf Warblers (Phylloscopidae) | Common Chiffchaff
11. Family #214: Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae) | European Stonechat
12. Family #213: Thrushes and Allies (Turdidae) | Common Blackbird
13. Family #223: Sunbirds and Spiderhunters (Nectariniidae) | Palestine Sunbird
14. Family #233: Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae) | White Wagtail
15. Family #234: Finches, Euphonias, and Allies (Fringillidae) | European Goldfinch
16. Family #232: Old World Sparrows (Passeridae) | House Sparrow
17. Family #178: Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice (Paridae) | Great Tit
18. Family #184: Cisticolas and Allies (Cisticolidae) | Graceful Prinia
