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23 December 2014

Eurasian Hoopoe – Dhahran Hills

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”.