Dave Kilmister saw my post about the Hoopoes and that
the Saudi Arabians like the bird. He mentioned, “In general, there are few
birds that are named in Arabic - there are big, small, and shorebirds
basically. But the Hoopoe is one of the exceptions as it is the bird that
carried a message from the queen (of eqypt?) to Soloman in Biblical times and
is mentioned in the holy Koran. In Arabic it is Hud-hud. The only other Arabic
names I have come across so far are falcons (suqr) - hence sakr falcon, owl
(booma) and eagle (nisr). The naming of birds is a Greek trait that Westerners
have carried on but which the Arabs do not share - naming and categorising
things”.
 |