The smelly hoopoe

Text: Ruo Muhan

Photography: Zhuang Shengxiao M

Is it smelly? Hoopoe?

No one believes that the beautiful hoopoe is associated with a stinky smell, and it is also very smelly. Most people only know about his beauty. Jia Dao, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, described him like this: "The Taoist priest's clothes are dotted with flowers and crowns, and the palace maiden of Ziyang transforms into flying. If he can spread the news of spring in the upper world, if he goes to Pengshan, don't let him go."

The poet describes her as the incarnation of the Purple Sun Palace Maid in the fairy world. She wears a star-studded wreath on her head and a Taoist priest's clothes. She brings the news of spring to the world. If you meet her in Penglai Fairy Mountain, don't let her go. .

Yes, the hoopoe has been beautiful from ancient times to the present. The ancients named him Hoopoe because he wore a beautiful flower crown. Cihai explained one of the meanings of "win": "the headdress of women in ancient times." "Day", the word "win" in the poem refers to the meaning of jewelry.

The flower crown of the hoopoe is as beautiful as the headdress of women in ancient times. When its crown feathers are spread out, they are like a gorgeous silk fan. They are long and dark pink-brown in color, with the top decorated with snow white or jet black. They are scattered high and low, black and white, luxurious and beautiful.

When gathered together, they form a bunch, tilting backwards. The gathered black is darker, and the pink-brown is pinker. The top part is snow-white, a pink-brown part, and a dark black part.

When he detects an alarm, his feathers spread out, and when the alarm is lifted, he relaxes and bunches them up.

I wonder if he spread his crest to scare his enemies? Or do you want to blind your enemies with your beauty?

The gorgeous pink-brown color on his head extends from the head and neck to the entire back and the tip of the tail. There is a section of light brown pink, a section of chestnut black, and a section of brown-white, interspersed with dark pink-brown. This kind of The still rhythm is like a frozen piece of music he dedicated to the sky!

If it is a solid piece of music when it stops, then it is a flowing piece of music when it is flying, rhythmic, beautiful, gentle and soothing. The fully unfolded body is black and dark pink and brown, black and light pink and brown, black and brown and white, smart and graceful.

Speaking of stinking, it is not only a weapon for his family to thrive, but also a strategy for his survival. I am afraid it is also a sign of his laziness, right?

His tail can secrete a black-brown oil with a strange odor. Even his young birds have this "chemical weapon". Those who want to covet him, especially those who covet him, The child, the fox, the weasel, the hawk, etc., as well as the child and his house, just need a whiff of stench to turn their backs and flee, the sooner the better, the further the better; if he doesn't want to repair the house, he only needs to build it under the woodpecker's roof. Put a little smelly oil in the tree hole, and the woodpecker has to dig another hole.

He smelled the stinky liquid he had released, and maybe he just enjoyed it. However, his "home" was never cleaned, and the child's feces and food residues made the odor even worse. He doesn't care about cleanliness and hygiene as much as the big tits do!

In this case, who can kill his child? Who wants to "occupy the magpie's nest" of his home?

Although the Hoopoe family does not have any relatives, the family itself is prosperous, so it is not lonely!

I have long been familiar with the Hoopoe, and the first time I met him was in the early morning not long ago, on the way to work in mid-spring. When I just left the gate and almost passed the neighbor's fence, Dad Xin's surprised words "Look, there is a bird on the road" startled me. He, who had no feeling for birds at all, also became surprised under my influence. Especially the "new" birds.

Sure enough, a bird wearing gorgeous "jewelry" on its head and a gorgeous floral dress was using its long, pointed beak to peck at the wall, and walked as it pecked , completely ignoring the approach of a huge black vehicle.

All birds seem to be insensitive to everything except humans!

"Hoopoe, hoopoe"! I was surprised and panicked. I didn’t bring my binoculars or my camera, so I got out of the car quietly and took pictures of him with my cell phone. I saw him eating and walking, and then quickly turned around the wall and walked towards the wall of another house. , the terrain here is open and there is no cover. He finally turned his head and spotted me sneaking around. He immediately took off and went to the woods inside the wall. The moment he took off, I saw his instantly opened crown feathers and all the feathers that stood up due to nervousness. Even his tail was spread out and straight.

Then, I clearly saw a flying piece of music!

There are many nicknames for the hoopoe, such as mountain monk, cock-combed sparrow, flower shop fan, smelly aunt, etc. It likes to live in open and moist ground, and likes to eat cultivated land, vegetable gardens, gardens, grassland and other places. The various insects in it play an important role in the elimination of pests by humans.

In addition to our country, it is also found in Eurasia, Africa, Madagascar, etc. It is a summer migratory bird in our area. No wonder I haven’t seen it in winter. It likes to nest in farmers' firewood sheds, soil holes or tree holes abandoned by woodpeckers. Nowadays, many farmers have built buildings. I guess they can only live in holes in the earth or trees, right? They lay 6-8 eggs in each clutch, and some may have more than 10 eggs. The hoopoe parents raise the children together.

It’s a pity that I have never heard his emotional singing when he was in love.

Maybe, I heard it, but I didn’t know it was him singing it? It is spring now, and there are many songs in nature that I am not familiar with yet!

Reference materials: "Field Handbook of Chinese Birds";

"The Charm of Western Qiang - Mianyang Wild Birds" edited and photographed by Wang Changda

2007 March January 25