When you are located close to three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa – as Israel is, it’s no surprise that the bird life is so rich in diversity.

While peak bird watching times are often the spring and late fall, when birds migrate across the country, all year round you can find an enormous range of different species of birds living and nesting in Israel.

Some 530 species of birds have been identified in Israel. Around 200 different species nest here, while another 216 arrive in the fall, and leave in the spring.  You can anything from the common house sparrow, to hawfinchs, pelicans, kingfishers, lapwings and even rare birds like the Basra Reed-Warbler.

What makes the country particularly attractive to such varied bird species is the diversity of Israel’s landscape, from the south’s parched deserts to the lush rolling hills of the Galilee, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the sweet water Sea of Galilee.

To celebrate the wide variety of Israel’s bird life, we’ve put together a collection of gorgeous photographs.

Cap: Thousands of migrating cranes rest in the Hula Valley in northern Israel on their way to and from breeding grounds. Photo by Doron Horowitz/Flash90

A flock of birds sits on electricity wires in southern Israel. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90

Two European Goldfinch birds in the Judea Plains, Israel. Photo by Haim Shohat/Flash90

A falcon eats a baby bird. Photo by Haim Shohat/Flash90

A flock of starlings performs their evening dance at sunset near the Bedouin city of Rahat, in southern Israel. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

A greater spotted eagle in Beit Shean Valley. Photo by Haim Shohat/Flash90

A house sparrow seen in the Negev Desert, southern Israel. Photo by Haim Shohat/Flash90

Pelicans at a water reservoir in Emek Hefer in the north of Israel. Photo by Yaakov Lederman/Flash90

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Storks make a night stop on their journey from Africa to Europe near Moshav Nahalal in the Jezreel Valley. Photo by Anat Hermony/Flash90