[Kevin WS]

Interesting Don.

The bird features a lot in mythology - Indian, Greek and Persian - as well as in the Bible and Koran. Perhaps because of its dramatic appearance and the fact it also often inhabits remote areas, which may give it a touch of the exotic.

It was also believed to have medicinal powers.

In an early Persian poem ("The Conference of the Bird") which is an allegory, the Hoopoe plays the main character - a Sufi master who leads a pilgrimage to find God.

In East Africa, there were also many tales (with an Arab/Persian origin) about the Hoopoe. There is one rather nice one about (of course!) how the Hoopoe got its crest, which I will post in this thread at a later stage!