Posted on 05/29/2008 9:30:35 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - It may not be kosher, but the Hoopoe was chosen Thursday as Israel's national bird.
The Hoopoe, or "Duchifat" in Hebrew, is listed in the Old Testament as unclean and forbidden food for Jews.
President Shimon Peres declared the pink, black and white-crested bird the winner of a competition timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. It beat out rivals such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Palestine Sunbird.
The Book of Leviticus groups the Hoopoe with birds such as the eagle, vulture and pelican that are "abhorrent, not to be eaten."
Israel is a main crossroads for birds migrating between Europe and Africa. Some 155,000 Israelis cast ballots in the national bird vote.
So who wants to eat the national bird?
Now that was tough competion!
I couldn’t imagine eating a Bald Eagle. I wonder if it tastes like chicken...
"Their habitat is open cultivated ground with short grass or bare patches. They spend much time on the ground hunting insects and worms. That diet may have been among the reasons the Hoopoe is included on the Old Testament's list of unclean birds (see Leviticus 11:19 and Deuteronomy 14:18). The Hoopoe is 25–29cm long, with a 44–48cm wingspan. This black, white and pink bird is quite unmistakable, especially in its erratic flight, which is like that of a giant butterfly. The crest is erectile, but is mostly kept closed. It walks on the ground like a starling.
The song is a trisyllabic "oop-oop-oop", which gives rise to its English and scientific names.
The nest is in a hole in a tree or wall. Like those of its relatives the kingfishers, the nest tends to contain copious amounts of faeces and smell very foul as a protection against predators. Nesting hoopoes are capable of squirting fecal matter at intruders."
Looks like a kingfisher, cardinal, woodpecker, hummingbird hybrid.
Like a bird version of “Trick My Ride”.
Like a bird version of “Trick My Ride”.
Who knew? LOL
So what’s the Palestinian national bird going to be? The vulture?
}:-)4
No, they taste like a cross between a blue heron and an osprey.
Isreal needs a national bird like they need another enemy..
Very cool bird. It has it all going on, Thanks!
Love that punk hairdo!
Yellow-vented Bulbul
Well, let’s say I definitely wouldn’t want to go after a nesting pair of hoopoes.
That would be me. 
"mmmmm... E-mew"
That’s it? Great, it looks like it’s wearing a kaffiyeh.
It’s so cute!
Rachel Ray’s latest culinary presentation, stuffed Hoopoe.
A National Park ranger caught a poacher with a freshly killed Bald Eagle.
After a sob story about losing his job and needing to put food on the table for his wife and kids, the Ranger decides to let the guy off the hook but warns him that if he ever finds out about any more poaching, he will throw the book at him. The poacher thanks the Ranger profusely for the second chance.
"So, umm, out of curiosity, what does Bald Eagle taste like?", asked the Ranger.
The poacher replied, "Just like Spotted Owl."
The cowbird.
In order for the birds to remain mobile and stay with the herd, they have adapted by laying their eggs in other birds' nests. The cowbird will watch for when its host lays eggs, and when the nest is left unattended, the female will come in and lay its own eggs.
The cowbird eggs do not look much different from the hosts' eggs, and the host will normally incubate the eggs. The cowbird chicks grow quickly, and may consume most of the food the host brings. If starvation does not kill the other birds, in some species the cowbird will use its large size to push the other chicks out of the nest.
Cowbird
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I assume that’s a flying cockroach?
That is a fly that lives on s#!t.
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