10x14 Oil on Light Walnut.
These beautiful birds with crown of feathers and bright colors are found in Asia, Africa & Europe.  They use their long bills to forage for food like inseccts, snakes and small mammals.  They bathe in dust or sand. Since 2008, the hoopoe has been the national bird of Israel  and their history is interesting: they appear in Egyptian hieroglyphics; they surfaced in Kipling's work as sacred for Solomon & the Queen of Sheba; for Scandavians, they were the harbinger of death; in Germany, they were used to sumon demons.  Another interesting fact is they emit a foul-smelling liquid to deter predators and protect their nest.