Greetings to all participants in the 20th Great Bird Count!

We’re thrilled that you took part again this year. It’s exciting to see that the number of reports increased to 1,400 this year (an 11% rise compared to 1,269 reports in 2024). This growth may be due to both the temporary pause in the war and the relatively pleasant weather during the count days. The new Bird Count webpage on the Israeli Center for Citizen Science website—which gathers all the information and resources needed by participants—may have also played a role. Perhaps the increase also reflects strengthened partnerships this year with leaders of Bird Language programs, local environmental education coordinators, the Regional Councils Center and the Kibbutz Movement, the Ministry of Education, and others.

In 2025, a total of “just” 144 different bird species were recorded (slightly fewer than the 155 species reported in 2024), but many more birds were counted overall—51,863 individuals (a 36% increase compared to 2024).

The list of most frequently observed birds remained consistent with last year’s, and overall, bird distribution in human-dominated environments appears fairly stable. Still, it’s important to note that with only seven years of data (we count from 2019, when the eBird app was introduced), we do not yet have enough information to identify long-term trends. That’s why continued long-term monitoring is so important.

Cover photo by: Shahar Alterman, iNaturalist