My Beloved Hoopoe

I have fallen in love ……with a bird! The hoopoe to be precise. Let me explain how this happened. Yesterday I only had time for a short stroll at the river before heading out to my evening Hebrew class. Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to take my usual long route, I started out on the walkway but soon verged off the path to meander under the trees closer to the river. I was gazing across the river towards a large goose-like bird that was perched on a rock making a loud honking noise. Then something caught my eye on the ground no more than a half dozen feet in front of me. At first I was aware only of movement but then I was startled to see the form of a bird emerge out of the camoflage of the groundcover. And what a charming creature it was. It was busily pecking away at the undergrowth with its long, tapered, slightly curved beak and it didn’t seem to be bothered much by my presence. From the top of its head protruded a striking tawny pink crest tipped with black and white stripes, a zebra pattern that also adorned the feathers on the back half of its body and its wings. The rest of the body and head were a rosy-brown color. I was enchanted. But I had no idea what kind of bird this was. After spending several minutes admiring my new friend, I reluctantly left to catch the sherut for the ride downtown.

The first thing I did when I returned home was to look up Israeli birds on the internet. That led me to Kibbutz Lotan, a birdwatching center in the Negev, through which I found the Hoopoe Lark-- Eurasian Hoopoe. I learned that this bird is a denizen of Europe, Asia, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. The northern residents migrate to the tropics in the winter but their African cousins remain where they are all year round. I also learned that due to some unusually strong muscles, the long tapering beak can actually open when inserted into the ground to probe for insects. According to legend, the hoopoe is capable of cutting through stone, and is referred to as "nakar turia," or mountain chiseler, in the Talmud. Legend also has it that when its beak breaks, the hoopoe can continue chiseling through rocks with its folded crest - hence its name duchifat, which means "two beaks" in Aramaic (Arutz Sheva, Israel National News). The bird plays a role in biblical lore, carrying King Solomon’s invitation to the Queen of Sheba. Considered sacred in Ancient Egypt, hoopoe pictographs appear on the walls of temples and tombs. To Persians this bird was a symbol of virtue, while Ethiopian Jews called it the Moses bird because they believed it would lead them back to Zion.

Okay, so that’s all very interesting but wait, there’s more. THE HOOPOE IS THE NATIONAL BIRD OF ISRAEL!!!!!!! Yes, that’s right. In May 2008, it was chosen over a dozen other candidates through a nation-wide vote initiated by the Society for the Protection of Nature to celebrate the country’s 60th birthday. It turns out that this modest, monogamous bird that takes good care of its young and finds creative ways to defend itself (involving flinging excrement and excreting a foul-smelling substance when alarmed), is also, alas, non-kosher. There is no end to the contradictions in Israeli society.

Many Flickr sites have posted wonderful images of these birds—just put hoopoe photos in your search engine and you will be rewarded. I have now spent way too much time viewing hoopoe videos on the internet. I highly recommend those by sandrobico showing baby hoopoes but there are far too many other good ones to choose from. You must, however, view this clip from The Colbert Report on the hoopoe’s selection as Israel’s national bird. Not to be missed!