The Hoopoe is mentioned in the list of “unclean” things not to eat in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. I am sort of revisiting my Birds of the Bible – Lapwing which uses the same references. Depending on which copy of Scripture one uses it is translated Lapwing in some and Hoopoe in others. The Hoopoe is an interesting and pretty bird, so I will describe it in today’s blog.

the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. (Lev 11:19 NKJV)
the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat. (Deu 14:18 NKJV)

• The Hoopoe is in the same order as Bee-eaters, Rollers, and
  Kingfishers.

• They are found in Asia, Europe, and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.
• They migrate to the tropics in the winter.
• In 2008, the Long-Billed Hoopoe became the national bird of Israel. See Article in Jerusalem Post.
• Their diet consists of mostly worms and insects, which they find while spending most of their time on the ground.
• “The nest is in a hole in a tree or wall. Like those of its relatives, the kingfishers, the nest tends to contain copious amounts of faeces and smell very foul as a protection against predators^[2].”(Wikipedia)
• “The song is a trisyllabic “oop-oop-oop”, which gives rise to its English and scientific names.”(Wikipedia)

Links to check out:

William Kwong’s Gallery (Photos used with his Permission)
Hoopoe – Photos & Videos