In July, Turkish authorities captured and detained a suspected Israeli spy before clearing the possible offender of espionage. And a few weeks ago, another suspected spy was detained in Egypt. Also released, this second purported infiltrator was found dead less than a week later. Though this may all sound like the plot of a John le Carré novel the truth is even stranger: Both of these suspected spies were birds.
As reported in the Turkish paper Milliyet and later by Reuters, residents of a Turkish village encountered a kestrel in July with a suspicious-looking tag that read: 24311 Tel Avivunia Israel. It was just a simple bird band from Tel Aviv University in Israel. But tensions between Israel and Turkey have been running high, so the bird was brought to local authorities and eventually to a university hospital for x-rays. Reportedly, the bird was labeled Israeli agent during its stay at the hospital. When the x-rays showed no chips, cameras, or other tools of the espionage trade, the bird was released unharmed.
