By Anna Sangrey
A flit of black and white near an olive grove resembles a lost zebra, but in Israel, it is the plumage of the national bird—the decadent Hoopoe. Named after its oooop, oooop, oooop call, the bird has black and white stripes down the lower half of its body. Its head and shoulders are rust red, with a crest of loose brown feathers forming a double beak off the back of its head. Its striking appearance—half-dipped in a bucket of
black and white paint—gave the Hoopoe celebrity status in ancient Egypt. Then in 2008, Israelis around the nation, school children and stationed soldiers writing or texting in their votes, made this bird Israel’s national ornithological symbol. Around 155,000 people voted in the election with the Hoopoe ranking over even the dove, which is known in Israel for its symbolism and homing instinct—the desire to return home.
Yet the Hoopoe, in contrast, is a natural wanderer. It is comfortable in many climates and throughout the year travels the globe, taking up residence in countries throughout Europe and Asia. It calls Africa, the Arabian peninsula, India, and China home, and. during its summer breeding season, its range extends into Europe, from Spain up to Sweden, and further into Asia, from Korea to Japan. Birders have also sighted it in England, and extremely rarely, a Hoopoe off its normal migratory pathway may appear in Alaska. The Hoopoe bird, common, mostly silent, and brilliantly dressed, is everywhere.
Except for its ooop, ooop, ooop call, made with two or three syllables and repeated regularly, the Hoopoe is usually fairly quite. Its call also resembles a “hood, hood, hood,” sound, which is its name in Arabic. Occasionally, two males will spit and whistle at one another over a territory disagreement, and when a little spat takes place, their rust-colored crest, with black lines, arches into a feathery hood. While the Hoopoe typically interacts easily with people, when it feels threatened, it hisses and exudes a putrid liquid. However, this reaction appears rare, since the bird, before being nominated at Israel’s 60th anniversary as the national bird, traveled for decades along footpaths with school children and oop, ooped throughout the vineyards and gardens in Israel. It is as familiar as the landscape.
Sticking its long, black needle bill in between rocks, the Hoopoe searches for insects, small mammals and reptiles, and seeds for its daily nutrition. Powerful musculature in the Hoopoe’s head muscles allows it to open its bill while drilled into the ground. In between meals, a monogamous Hoopoe pair trots from the rocks to low walls to build its nest in forgotten cracks, holes, and nesting boxes, all low to the ground. The pair will incubate between three to twelve eggs per clutch with one to three clutches per season. Hatched chicks stay with their caring parents after fledging for about a week before journeying on throughout Israel on their own wanderlust journeys.
Out of 540 bird varieties soaring through Israel’s skies, the Hoopoe, with its hooping cry, stands out as a crowned avian: beautiful, friendly, and familiar throughout the Holy Land.
Follow News from JerusalemShare this page with your friends
esther korson says
That was a beautifully written blog! Youhave a real descriptive gift, and it was lovely to read! Thanks so much!