Hoopoe on a Dry Stone Wall

The hoopoe has raised its fan-shaped crest above the dry stone wall. Rust-colored feathers cover the body, while black-and-white bars cut across the folded wings. Pale grasses and a hazy olive hillside fill the space behind its long beak and slender legs.

The crest is a small group with several repeated dark tips, so it is useful once you have found its warm center. Wing bars should be sorted by their width and angle rather than by black and white alone. Stone pieces carry rough horizontal faces and darker seams. Those seams help establish the wall before the bird's thin legs are ready to join it.