What happens to birds during war?

Every Spring and Fall, half a billion migratory birds from over 400 species fly through the skies of Israel and Palestine to traverse between Eurasia and Africa. Being the only land bridge between the three continents, this narrow corridor of air space sees a scale of avian migration unparalleled almost anywhere else.

Of all the birds migrating through the area, one family is particularly significant—kettles of eagles, vultures, buzzards that circle and swarm the sky in striking numbers. These large birds are known as raptors, or birds of prey.

Increasingly, the sighting of birds of prey here carry with it a precarious fate. These are birds of steel, bearing the shapes of drones, missiles, striker jets. Birdwatching has become not a leisurely activity, but a necessity for survival. Because these birds can take your life.

This book examines the machines of war in the form of a field guide, with content spanning from identification methods, catalogues, photographs, to forensics.