Hoopoe: The Majestic Bird of Ancient Fable and Myth

Many bird lovers visit Lanzarote with the prime intention of coming face to face with the Hoopoe, a strikingly beautiful creature which many regard as the ruler of the avian kingdom. This was certainly the place it held in The Birds, the ancient Greek play by Aristophanes. With its proud carriage, distinctive black and white plumage and striking crest, it conveys a regal air.  In Egypt, during the time of the Pharaohs, it was regarded as sacred. The same applied in Minoan Crete, where it was depicted on wall paintings in temples and tombs.  Even today it remains a popular status symbol, being chosen in 2008 as the national bird of Israel after a poll of 155,000 citizens.

There are nine subspecies of Hoopoe, the one found in Lanzarote having been officially named by Linneaus in 1758 as the Upupa eremite epos. The bird builds its nests in holes in trees, cliffs and walls. Here it lays a clutch of eggs, which may number as many as ten or twelve when it migrates to northern territories where fewer chicks survive. In the favourable climate of Lanzarote the clutch size is more commonly three or four. The bird feeds on insects, larvae and small reptiles, which it digs from the ground with its long, thin tapering beak. Larger items of prey are beaten on a stone to break them up into bite sized chunks.

The hoopoe is easily recognized, not only by its exotic appearance, but also by its distinctive oop, oop, oop cry. This is the mating call which the males give in the spring to attract their mates and defend their territory. This is the derivation of its name, which comes from the Latin upupa, a word which echoes its unique call. It also has a unusual, undulating flight which arises because, like a butterfly, it nearly closes its wings as it flies, which means it loses height with each successive beat. Careful observers may catch it sunbathing, when it fans out its wings and tail and lies spread eagled on the ground so it can soak up the full warmth of the sun’s rays. At other times it cleans its plumage by taking baths in the dust and sand. To deter predators when nesting, mothers and chicks have glands which produce a foul smelling liquid.  This sticky fluid, which smells like rotting meat, is rubbed on their plumage to keep intruders at bay. The substances can also be squirted with deadly accuracy to deter marauding cats and humans. This is no doubt why the Old Testament declared the birds to be impure, Leviticus advising that they should not be eaten, and Deuteronomy that they were not kosher.

Despite their nasty table manners, the hoopoe was a symbol of purity for the early Persians, who made it the key character in one of their most famous poems, The Conference of the Birds. This an allegory, which casts the hoopoe as a Sufi master who leads a group of thirty pupils on a pilgrimage to find God. In this instance the god is imagined to be a bird called Simorgh, who lives in a far away country. Each of the thirty birds has its own characteristics and faults. The parrot wants to discover, not God, but the secret of immortality. The proud peacock wants to increase his status, and is described as a ‘fallen soul’ in league with the devil. After an arduous journey crossing seven valleys – which represent such virtues as love, selflessness, wisdom, and unity with God, the pilgrims eventually arrive at a lake where they see, not the great god Simorgh, but a reflection of themselves. This conveys the Sufi message that God is not separate from the existential world, but represents the wholeness, and totality of our existence. Whether we’re a hoopoe or homo sapiens, God is to be found within ourselves as part of the transcendent, cosmic unity.

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