Police solve Herzliya ‘hoot-dunnit’

Police in Herzliya were stumped this week when they began receiving calls from residents in the city complaining about sirens disturbing their sleep at night. After investigating the section of town where most of the calls originated, authorities couldn’t find anything.

Luckily, one of the policemen had the ornithological smarts to contact local resident Shlomit Lifshitz, founder of the Israeli Center for Yardbirds, whose goal is to raise awareness about the variety of wild birds in Israel’s cities.

It didn’t take long for Lifshitz to solve the mystery.

After a little nocturnal scouting, “I immediately and happily identified the little Eurasian Scops Owl,” she told Israel Radio Tuesday, “a nocturnal predator that nests here, and its mating calls sound similar to a car siren.”

The Eurasian Scops Owl, also known as a screech owl, winters in Africa, and during the mating season it migrates to southern Europe, the Middle East, and central Asia.

“It’s a small bird,” Lifshitz pointed out, “but with a very strong voice.” She didn’t say how many have taken up temporary residence in Herzliya, but it wouldn’t take many to ruin the nighttime quiet. These birds “really make it hard for people to sleep, because the call carries on all night during the mating season.”

The lovelorn owls are only 19-21 centimeters in length, with a gray-brown body, lighter face, and small ear tufts.

Come mid-June, the end of mating season, Herzliya’s residents will be able to sleep soundly again at night, secure in the knowledge that their little neighbors have found a little love.