Hoopoe

                                              The Hoopoe or Hud Hud


Hoopoes are distinctive birds and have made a cultural impact over much of their range. They were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt and symbols of virtue in Persia.Known in the local Arabic dialect as Hud Hud.

In the Bible, Leviticus 11:13-19, they were listed among the animals that are detestable and should not be eaten. They were thought of as thieves across much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia.[18] Also, in Estonian tradition the Hoopoes are strongly connected with death and the underworld, their song is seen as a forebode of death for many a people or cattle.[19] In Egypt they were “depicted on the walls of tombs and temples”; they achieved a similar standing in Minoan Crete.[14]

Hoopoes also appear in the Quran in Surah Al-Naml 27:20-22 in the following context "And he [Solomon] sought among the birds and said: How is it that I see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent? (20) I verily will punish him with hard punishment or I verily will slay him, or he verily shall bring me a plain excuse. (21) But he [the Hoopoe] was not long in coming, and he said: I have found out (a thing) that thou apprehendest not, and I come unto thee from Sheba with sure tidings." Hoopoes are listed in Deuteronomy (14:18) as un-Kosher.

The diet of the Hoopoe includes many species considered to be pests by humans; for example the pupae of the processionary moth, a damaging forest pest.[20] For this reason the species is afforded protection under the law in many countries.[6]
[21] It is the state-bird of Punjab province of India.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 6, King Tereus of Thrace, married to Procne, rapes his wife's sister, Philomela and cuts out her tongue. In revenge, Procne kills their son Itys and serves him as a stew to his father. When Tereus sees the boy's head, which is served on a platter, he grabs a sword but just as he attempts to kill the sisters, they are turned into birds—Philomela into a nightingale and Procne into a swallow. Tereus himself is turned into an epops (6.674), translated as lapwing by Dryden[22] and lappewincke (lappewinge) by John Gower in his Confessio Amantis,[23] or hoopoe, in A.S. Kline's translation.[24] The bird's crest indicates his royal status and his long, sharp beak is a symbol of his violent nature. English translators and poets probably had the Northern lapwing in mind, considering its crest.

The Birdman of Rafah

BLUE HERON on flight







DESERT ORIOLE atop a palm.

Written by Brainerd S. Bates

For the migratory birds that fly the north-south circuit in Arabia each spring and fall the skies above the Trans-Arabian Pipeline have long been a favorite transit route. Amid the vast stretches of rolling desert and flat gravel plains of northern Arabia the islands of green surrounding the pump stations mean food and rest amid often lush vegetation.

It was not, unfortunately, the safest of routes. In the days before conservationists of the world sounded the alarm, hunters in and around the pump stations often brought down what some observers considered to be an excessive number of birds—observers like Reda Abdul-Samad.

For many years Reda Abdul-Samad, a Lebanese diesel/gas turbine technician, has been assigned to the Tapline station called Rafah. He was also, for a time, an avid hunter—until the day he began to notice that some of his favorite species aloft were thinning out. From that point on he turned to the serious study of the appearance and habits of all local and migrating types, first by photography, then, after chancing on an advertisement in Outdoor Life, by ornithological taxidermy.

The advertisement said that the Northwestern School of Taxidermy of Omaha, Nebraska, could teach anyone how to stuff and mount animals and birds by mail. Abdul-Samad clipped out the coupon and sent for instructions and some special instruments. When they arrived he settled down to master taxidermy. He thought too that if he succeeded he might also encourage a wider interest in natural history among friends and students.

The practice of taxidermy requires artistic as well as mechanical skill to give the lifeless model a completely natural appearance. Abdul-Samad practically rebuilds a bird's sinewy base structure with wire. He also molds manikins for his mountings out of tightly bound excelsior. To match eyes—there are as many sizes and colors as there are species of birds—he had to resort to glass beads from costume jewelry.

From his long experience as hunter and bird watcher. Abdul-Samad was able, quite early, to achieve the realism he insists on in stance and posture. He could correctly label most of his models from his own knowledge but to be certain he regularly consults such standard references as Migratory Birds. In these days, when stuffed animals and birds are usually displayed only in museums and rarely as the parlor decorations which were once so popular, a truly skilled amateur taxidermist, which Abdul-Samad has now become, is a rare specimen indeed—in the Arab world or anywhere else.

So far, Reda Abdul-Samad has mounted more than 120 different kinds of birds. These have included sparrows, hawks, hoopoes, the golden oriole, white, blue and night herons, kestrels, five or six kinds of shrikes, and many species of warblers. The Arabian Natural History Association of Dhahran has on display 75 examples of Abdul-Samad's art. Through such permanent showings, plus the occasional lectures he gives, Reda Abdul-Samad is introducing an ever-increasing number of people in the Middle East to the birds which frequent this region. Closehand looks at species normally appearing as distant objects in the sky inspire fresh appreciation of this form of nature which could easily lead to renewed efforts to conserve the kind.