Farid ud-Din Attar, a Sufi mystic of the twelfth century wrote a fantastic poem called " The Conference of the Birds ". The Hoopoe is the guide and his early lines "I am a messenger of the world invisible. I know the way to the garden beyond the edge of time....." seem very appropriate to me. He is a wonderful bird. The Hoopoe appeared on the sceptre of Horus in ancient Egypt as a symbol of joy and affection, is reputed to have helped Solomon build his temple, and is considered lucky in China. The Old Testament also singles him out for mention as something definitely not to be eaten.
The name itself is something to conjure with. Upupa epops in Latin - rather like "up, up, 'e pops" if you like that sort of thing. The Old English name was Hoopoop, and as we'll see later, he does - rather offensively. Even the modern English name of Hoopoe suggests he might be a bit smelly.
I remember a holiday we once had at Ayron (near Poitiers in France). We were the first people in the commune's restored Chateau / gite. Set in wonderful parkland we felt like royalty. My young daughter was enchanted with the Hoopoes we saw every day, and I was determined to find their nesting places. We had a circular bedroom in the tower, and overlooked an ancient forest. It was my daughter who found the place first and then led me to the home of the "smelly parrot" deep in this wood. The place stank.
Hoopoes have the endearing habit of using animal dung in the construction of their rather shoddy nests and they do not bother to eject their own excreta or that of their young. The place attracts flies and maggots and the young even add to the stench by producing foul smells from special glands. Who poos indeed! Since they feed largely on insects I personally wonder if there is not method in this madness - but I have seen no research on this so will have to let the faecal matter lie, as it were.
They are beautiful but there is little point describing their plumage here - everyone who walks in France will have seen them. They appear delicate and are usually seen fluttering around the vineyards rather like giant moths. This is all very deceptive because, when pressed, they can outmanoeuvre falcons and they annually make the round trip to sub-Saharan Africa
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