Hoopoe

Appearance

Hoopoe cannot be confused with any other bird

A small bird 25–29 cm long and a wingspan of 44–48 cm ^[3] . Standing out with striped black and white plumage of wings and tail , a long thin beak and a long crest on the head, it is one of the most recognizable birds. The color of the head, neck and chest, depending on the subspecies, varies from pinkish to chestnut (ornithologist S. A. Buturlin describes it as “clay-reddish” ^[7] ). The wings are wide, rounded, painted with contrasting black and whitish-yellow stripes. The tail is medium length, black with a wide white band in the middle. The abdominal part of the body is pinkish-red, with blackish longitudinal stripes on the sides. Crest on the head is orange-red, with black tops of feathers. Usually a crest is complex and has a length of 5-10 cm, (depending on the size of the bird), however, upon landing (rarely at other times), the bird dissolves it, usually 10-15 cm in a fan height. Beak 4-5 cm long, slightly bent down ^[3] . The tongue, unlike many other bird species, is greatly reduced . Legs are lead gray, strong enough, with short metatarsus and blunt claws. Males and females do not differ from each other externally. Young birds as a whole are painted in less saturated tones, have a shorter beak and crest.

Behavior

He moves fast and agile on the earth, like starlings . In the event of a sudden alarm, when there is no opportunity to escape, it can lie low, clinging to the ground, spreading its wings and tail and lifting its beak up.

During the incubation and feeding of chicks in adult birds and chicks, an oily liquid is produced, which is secreted from the coccygeal gland and has a sharp unpleasant odor. By releasing it together with an alien litter, hoopoes try to protect themselves from small land predators - as a result of such adaptation in the eyes of man, the bird has gained a reputation as a very “unclean” creature. ^{[8] [9] The} flight of a hoopoe is slow, fluttering like a butterfly. Nevertheless, it is quite maneuverable, and feathered predators rarely manage to grab hoopoe in the air.

Voice

The vocalization of hoopoe is as special as its appearance. The voice is a deaf, slightly guttural three-five-syllable cry “up-up-up” or “ud-ud-ud” (from where it got its name) ^[10] , repeated several times in a row. The interval between series of sounds rarely exceeds 5 s. The generic scientific name of the bird, Upupa , is the onomatopoeia of this unusual song (a phenomenon in linguistics called onomatopoeia ) ^[3] . In addition, in case of surprise or fright, hoopoe emits a piercing cry of “chi-ir”, reminiscent of a ringed dove . Sometimes during mating games or when courting the offspring it makes a dull rolling sound ^[3] .

Range

Hoopoe is a bird of the Old World . In Eurasia, it is distributed throughout from west to east, in its middle and southern parts. In the west and north of Europe, it practically doesn’t nest in the British Isles (random flights to the south of England are known), Benelux , Scandinavian countries , as well as in the highlands of the Alps , Apennines and Pyrenees . In Germany and the Baltic states it is distributed sporadically ^[11] . In the European part of Russia it nests south of the Gulf of Finland (south of the Leningrad region ), Novgorod , Yaroslavl , Nizhny Novgorod regions , the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan . In Western Siberia rises to 56 ° C. sh., reaching Tomsk and Achinsk . In Eastern Siberia , the range boundary envelopes Lake Baikal from the north, passes through the South Mui Range in Transbaikalia and drops to the 54th parallel in the Amur River basin . ^[12] In continental Asia, it inhabits almost everywhere outside Russia, avoiding only deserts and areas of continuous forest. It is found in the Japanese islands , Taiwan and Sri Lanka . In the southeast reaches the southern part of the Malacca Peninsula. Random flights to Sumatra and the island of Kalimantan are known. In Africa, the main range is located south of the Sahara , as well as in the far north along the Mediterranean coast . In Madagascar, lives in the western, more arid part. In the mountains it is usually found up to 2000 m above sea level, although in some cases it rises to 3100 m ^[4] .

Habitat

Usually settles on a plain or in hilly terrain, where preference is given to open landscapes without tall grass in combination with individual trees or small groves . The greatest abundance reaches in warm and arid areas - the steppe and forest-steppe zone , savannah . It keeps along steppe ravines , in a meadow , at the edge or at the edge of a forest, in a river valley , in the foothills, in coastal shrub dunes . Often found on landscapes used by humans - pastures , vineyards or fruit plantings. Sometimes it settles within the settlements where it feeds due to landfills. Lowland, damp areas avoided. For nesting, it uses hollow trees, crevices in stones, burrows in river cliffs, termite mounds , and depressions of stone structures. It is active in the daytime, for the night it uses tree hollows, rocky cracks or other suitable shelters.

Migration

Depending on latitude, a sedentary, nomadic or migratory bird. Most of the populations of the nominative subspecies nesting in the western Palaearctic , with the exception of Egypt and southern Algeria , in winter travel to the central and southern regions of sub - Saharan Africa . A small number of birds winter in the Mediterranean and in the north of the African continent ^[13] . Birds of Central Asia , and, in particular, Siberia , migrate to the south of the continent. A small part of Russian hoopoes winter in the east of Turkmenistan and the southern part of Azerbaijan ^[14] . The timing of migration is significantly extended in time - the spring arrival falls at the beginning of February - May with a peak in mid-March - April, the autumn departure begins in mid-July and ends at the end of October. The flight takes place on a wide front, at night or at dawn ^{[7] [13]} .

Hoopoe reaches puberty at the age of one year. Monogamen . In Russia, birds arrive at their nesting sites quite early - in March-April, when the first thawed spots are still emerging. Immediately upon arrival, the males occupy the territory for breeding and behave very actively - they shout loudly, making repeated muffled sounds “up-up-up ...” and thereby calling the females. In vocalization, the Madagascar subspecies is somewhat different - its voice is more reminiscent of a booming purr . During this period, the birds cry most often and loudly in the morning and evening, less often in the afternoon. During courtship, the male and female slowly fly one after another, marking a place for the future nest. Often the same territory has been used for several years. As a rule, hoopoes multiply in separate pairs, however, in the case of the proximity of other hoopoes between males, fights on the border of territories, reminiscent of cockfights, are frequent. The nest is located in a secluded place - a hollow of a tree, a rocky crevice, a recess on the slope of a cliff, sometimes in the wall of a stone or clay structure. If there is no suitable shelter nearby, eggs can be laid directly on the ground among the dried remains of an animal - for example, the famous German and Russian scientist Peter Pallas described a hoopoe nest in the chest of a human skeleton ^[15] . The lining is either completely absent or contains only a few blades of grass, feathers and pieces of cow dung. The hollow may also contain rotten wood dust. Unlike the vast majority of birds, hoopoes never remove droppings from the nest, which gradually accumulates around. In addition, during the period of incubation and feeding of the chicks in birds, an oily liquid is generated that is secreted from the coccygeal gland and has a sharp unpleasant odor. Such adaptation helps hoopoes to protect themselves from small land predators, however, as a result, among people, the bird has a reputation for being “unclean” ^{[8] [9]} .

Breeding usually occurs once a year, although in the case of a sedentary lifestyle repeated (up to three) cycles are noted. Clutch size in temperate climates consists of 5-9 eggs , in the tropics of 4-7 eggs ^[4] . The eggs are oblong, measuring 26 × 18 mm and weighing about 4.4 g ^[16] . Color varies widely from grayish-white to dark brown, may have a bluish or greenish tint. One egg is laid per day, incubation starts from the first egg and lasts for 25–32 days (incubation period is 15–16 days). One female incubates, while the male feeds her. The chicks that were born are blind and covered with a rare reddish fluff, which after a few days is replaced by another, pinkish-white in color and more dense. Both parents are engaged in feeding the chicks, alternately bringing them the larvae of insects and worms. At the age of 20–27 days (in central Russia - late June or early July), the chicks leave the nest and begin to fly, although they remain with their parents for several weeks.

The basis of food for hoopoe is small invertebrate animals: insects , their larvae and pupae ( May bugs , dung beetles , carnivores , grasshoppers , butterflies , steppe filly , flies , ants , termites ), spiders , woodlice , millipedes , small mollusks , etc. Less commonly, it catches small frogs , lizards, and snakes ^{[4] [17]} .

It feeds on the surface of the earth, usually in low grass or on bare soil. Possessing a long beak, it often picks itself in manure , garbage piles or rotten wood, makes shallow holes in the ground. Often accompanied by grazing cattle. Hoopoe’s tongue is short, therefore it is sometimes not able to swallow prey from the ground - for this the bird throws it into the air, catches and swallows it. Large beetles beat on the ground, previously breaking into pieces.

Hoopoe is a noticeable bird and has long been mentioned in various literary sources, including the scriptures - the Koran and the Bible . In ancient Greek mythology , according to the works of ancient classics, the Thracian king Tereus , the son of the war god Ares and the Biston nymph , was turned into a hoopoe after trying to kill his wives ^{[18] [19] [20]} .

Before the adoption of Islam, the Ingush and Chechens considered the hoopoe (“tushol-kotam”) to be a sacred bird and symbolized the goddess of spring, fertility and procreation of Tusholi . It was possible to kill hoopoe only with the permission of the priest for ritual purposes, and his nest in the courtyard was considered a good omen ^{[21] [22]} .

In Islam (Quran 27: 20–28) and some Jewish sources (such as Targum Sheni to the Book of Esther and Midrash Micheli, the Midrash to the Book of Parables ), hoopoe is associated with the king of birds and beasts, King Solomon . According to legend, once the ruler did not find hoopoe among his birds, and when he was finally found, he spoke about the wonderful city of Kitor and his ruler, the beautiful Queen of Sheba (Bilkis among Muslims), worshiping the Sun. The king sent hoopoe to the land of Sheba with a message to the queen. In response to the letter, the woman sent him rich gifts, and then paid a visit to the king in Jerusalem ^{[23] [24]} .

In the fifth book of the Pentateuch ( Torah ) and the Old Testament " Deuteronomy ", presumably composed in the 7th century BC. e., hoopoe is mentioned among birds prohibited for consumption ^[25] :

Eat every clean bird;
but these you should not eat of them: an eagle, a neck and a sea eagle,
and a kite, and a falcon, and a gyrfalcon with their breed,
and every raven with its breed,
and an ostrich, and an owl, and a seagull, and a hawk with its breed,
and eagle owl, and ibis, and swan,
and the pelican, and the vulture, and the fisherman,
and herons, and zuyu with his breed, and hoopoe, and bat.

Original text (Hebrew)

11 כָּל-צִפֹּ֥ור טְהֹרָ֖ה תֹּאכֵֽלוּ: 12 וְזֶ֕ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא-תֹאכְל֖וּ מֵהֶ֑ם הַנֶּ֥שֶׁר וְהַפֶּ֖רֶס וְהָֽעָזְנִיָּֽה: 13 וְהָרָאָה֙ וְאֶת-הָ֣אַיָּ֔ה וְהַדַּיָּ֖ה לְמִינָֽהּ: 14 וְאֵ֥ת כָּל-עֹרֵ֖ב לְמִינֹֽו: 15 וְאֵת֙ בַּ֣ת הַֽיַּעֲנָ֔ה וְאֶת-הַתַּחְמָ֖ס וְאֶת-הַשָּׁ֑חַף וְאֶת-הַנֵּ֖ץ לְמִינֵֽהוּ: 16 אֶת ־הַכֹּ֥וס וְאֶת־הַיַּנְשׁ֖וּף וְהַתִּנְשָֽׁמֶת׃ 17 וְהַקָּאָ֥ת וְאֶֽת־הָרָחָ֖מָה וְאֶת־הַשָּׁלָֽךְ׃ 18 וְהַ֣חֲסִידָ֔ה וְהָאֲנָפָ֖ה לְמִינָ֑הּ וְהֵּֽף׃וְל

Despite this, at the end of the 19th century, in Germany, the meat of adult hoopoes and chicks was eaten and found it “very tasty” ^[26] .

One of the battalions of the Israel Defense Forces is called "Duhifat", which in Hebrew means "hoopoe." In May 2008, in connection with the 60th anniversary of Israel , at the initiative of the Ministry of Ecology, elections of the national bird of this state were announced. As a result of the vote, in which all the inhabitants of the country could take part, a hoopoe was chosen - more than 35% spoke in favor of this bird, leaving far behind a warbler , Carduelis , short-toed songbird and some other birds. ^[9]

In the composition of the great Persian poet Sufi Faridaddin Attar, “The Parliament of Birds”, the hoopoe symbolizes the leader of mankind, inviting the birds to go on a long search for their mysterious King Simurg, who lives on Mount Kaf. This work, full of different images and meaning, has become one of the central in Sufism ^[27] . In medieval collections of zoological articles, bestiaries , hoopoes are often depicted as birds caring for their elderly parents ^[28] .

In Russian literature Velimir Khlebnikov mentioned hoopoe in a draft of his autobiographical novel in verse (1909) ^[29] :

I was surrounded by the steppe, flowers, roaring camels,
Round wagon
A sea of ​​sheep whose faces are uniformly thin
Wing of fire
Deserts of the sky are proud belongings.
So the days passed, the years followed.
Father, a distant thunderstorm of saigas,
Стяжал благодарность калмыков…
Ручные вороны клевали
Из рук моих мясную пищу,
Их вольнолюбивее едва ли
Отроки, обреченные топорищу.
Досуг со мною коротая,
С звенящим криком: «сирота я»,
Летел лебедь, склоняя шею,
Я жил, природа, вместе с нею.

У Самуила Маршака есть пересказ чешской народной песенки «Несговорчивый удод» ^[30] .

Удод изображён на банкноте Гамбии номиналом в 50 даласи и на почтовых марках многих стран мира ^[31] .

Удоды — единственный современный род птиц, относящийся к семейству Upupidae (один вид, гигантский удод ( Upupa antaios ), обитавший на острове Святой Елены , вымер в XVI веке ^[32] ). Удодов относят к отряду Bucerotiformes , куда помимо них включены ещё 3 семейства, включая и птиц-носорогов , которых долгое время считали ближайшими родственниками удодов. Основанием близкого родства считается ряд общих анатомических особенностей, в частности строение грудной кости. Однако в последнее время ряд учёных выделяет удодовых (Upupidae), а также семейство лесных удодов (Phoeniculidae) в отдельный отряд удодообразных (Upupiformes). На основании молекулярных исследований (сравнительного анализа ДНК ), американскими биологами Чарльзом Сибли и Джоном Алквистом была выдвинута гипотеза, что предками удодов являются птицы-носороги, а лесные удоды произошли от удода ^[33] . Обычно описывают 10 подвидов удодов в зависимости от размера, тонов окраски и формы крыльев. Некоторые авторы, как, например, Джеймс Клеменс в справочнике «Птицы мира» ( англ. Birds of the World: A Checklist ), на основании работ Сибли и Алквиста выделяет африканского удода ( U. e. africana ) как отдельный вид ^[34] .

Наиболее древней группой птиц, похожей на современных удодов, считается вымершее семейство Messelirrisoridae (сестринское по отношению к Upupidae и Phoeniculidae), представители которого доминировали в Европе в среднем эоцене около 49 млн лет назад ^[35] .

Subspecies

• Upupa epops epops , обыкновенный удод — номинативный подвид. Евразия от Атлантики на западе до Скандинавского полуострова , центральных и южных районов России , Ближнего Востока , Ирана , Афганистана , северо-западной Индии и северо-западного Китая на востоке. Канарские острова , остров Мадейра и северо-западная Африка .
• Upupa epops major — Египет , северный Судан и восточный Чад . Самый крупный подвид. Кроме того, выделяется более длинным клювом, сероватым оттенком верхней части туловища и узкой перевязочной полосой на хвосте.
• Upupa epops senegalensis , сенегальский удод — Алжир , засушливый пояс Африки от Сенегала до Эфиопии и Сомали . Наиболее мелкая форма. Крылья более короткие, с большим количеством белого на второстепенных маховых.
• Upupa epops waibeli — Экваториальная Африка от Камеруна и северного Заира на западе до Уганды и северной Кении на востоке. Похож на U. e. senegalensis , но в целом тона более тёмные.
• Upupa epops saturata — Евразия от центральных и южных районов России на восток до Японских островов , южного и центрального Китая. Размером с номинативный подвид, отличается слегка более сероватым оперением спины и менее выраженным оттенком розового на брюхе.
• Upupa epops ceylonensis — Центральная Азия к югу от Пакистана и северной Индии , Шри-Ланка . Меньше размером, в целом более рыжий. Белый цвет на вершине хохолка отсутствует.
• Upupa epops longirostris — индийский штат Асом , Бангладеш , Индокитай , восточный и южный Китай, полуостров Малакка . Крупнее номинативного подвида. По сравнению с U. e. ceylonensis окрас более бледный, а белые полосы на крыльях у́же.

• Hoopoe in the Biblical Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus
• Music file - singing hoopoe
• Eurasian Hoopoe Atlas of European Breeding Birds . EBCC. Archived January 24, 2012.
• Hoopoe - Upupa epops L (neopr.) . Birds of Altai . Archived January 24, 2012.
• Gerald Mayr. Tiny hoopoe-like birds from the Middle Eocene of Messel (Germany)
• Kazakhstan Bird World - Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
• Vertebrate animals of Russia - Upupa epops Linnaeus, 1758