The situation appears unfavorable for Israel. Amid a series of ongoing military strikes, Israeli Air Force pilots must also deal with an unusual obstacle: the migration of hundreds of millions of birds.

Between March and April each year, the airspace over Israel becomes one of the busiest bird migration routes in the world. Hundreds of millions of birds travel from Africa toward Europe and Western Asia, passing through the same region used by fighter jets and military helicopters for operational flights.

This situation raises concerns about the possibility of high-speed collisions between military aircraft and large flocks of birds such as storks, pelicans, and cranes.

A collision with a large bird while an aircraft is flying at combat speed could cause severe damage to the engine and even to the cockpit canopy.

To reduce such risks, the Israeli Air Force has long implemented special procedures designed to avoid bird migration routes during the migration season.

Yaron Charka, the chief birdwatcher from Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, warned that this year’s migration period is expected to be particularly intense.

“Over the next two months, hundreds of millions of birds are expected to pass over Israel,” Charka said, as quoted by JFeed on Friday (March 13, 2026).

According to him, these bird flocks often fly at altitudes similar to those used by military aircraft operations.

In addition to the risk of collisions, bird migration also creates another challenge for air defense systems. Large flocks frequently appear as suspicious objects on radar and, during wartime conditions, can be mistaken for enemy drones or low-flying missiles.

In recent years there have even been incidents where air defense systems fired at bird flocks after misidentifying them as hostile unmanned aircraft.

Such misidentifications not only risk wasting expensive interceptor ammunition but also endanger wildlife.

Currently, bird monitoring groups working together with the Israeli military provide real-time alerts about bird movements to help radar operators distinguish natural migration patterns from potential military threats.

The most concentrated migration activity occurs in the Hula Valley in northern Israel. The area serves as a resting site for cranes migrating from Africa and as a departure point for birds that spend the winter in Israel before continuing northward.

For Israeli pilots conducting missions as far as Lebanon and surrounding regions, this situation adds another layer of complexity to military operations that are already highly risky.

Coordination between the Israeli Air Force and civilian environmental experts has become one of the key approaches to ensuring that military operations can continue safely.