Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 140, August 2016, pp. 1-21. | Page 2

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Hoopoe Painting. A Special Painting which was painted for this article by my friend the
Biologist and Artist Raguib Ahmed from Dhaka, Bangladesh. 06.03.2015.
The Hoopoe or Hudhud ‫( هُدهُد‬in Arabic) communicated with Prophet Sulaiman
(Solomon) (Peace Be Upon Him) - who spoke to animals –, and the story was
mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. The Prophet Sulaiman-Hudhud communication
took place in Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Palestine, where the Prophet has his palace.
The Hoopoe )Upupa epops Linnaeus, 1758) is a common resident in the north and
central Palestine, and is a common migrant and winter visitor in the south of
Palestine.
The hoopoe was chosen as the national bird of Israel in May 2008 in conjunction
with the country's 60th anniversary, following a national survey of 155,000
citizens, outpolling the white-spectacled bulbul (Wikipedia; Khalaf-von Jaffa,
July 2016).
The List included also the red falcon, the goldfinch, the biblical vulture, the spurwinged plover, the honey-sucker, the warbler, the white-chested kingfisher, and
the white barn owl (Erlichman, 2008).
The Hoopoe is also one of the birds that were considered sacred in Ancient
Egypt.
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 140 – August 2016