The hoopoe - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:26

The hoopoe
In 2022, the hoopoe was chosen as the “Bird of the Year”. This bird, about 40 centimetres long with a long beak, has an orange, black-spotted crest that it raises during courtship. Its wings are black and white striped with yellow insertions, and its body is reddish-brown – a beautiful bird!

The hoopoe likes to eat larger insects, larvae and worms, which it often searches for in the faeces of other animals. It nests in tree hollows and rock crevices. The phrase “You smell like a hoopoe!” comes from the mistaken belief that it doesn’t keep its nest clean. That isn’t true! Rather, the young birds drive away their enemies with a strong-smelling secretion. This smell is very unpleasant for animal and human noses.

“Look at the birds of the air”, Jesus urges His disciples. He points out that birds don’t store up food supplies but are fed by God. The Creator has given the hoopoe the amazing ability to spend the winter as a migratory bird in the savannah belt south of the Sahara. It usually crosses the Alps, the Mediterranean and occasionally the Sahara, alone and during the night time from the end of July. From mid-March, it returns to Europe. Isn’t that an impressive example of God’s care?

How much more can children of God trust in this: Our Father in heaven provides for us every day, and He will surely bring us safely to His house.

Today’s reading: Lamentations 3:25-51 · Psalms 44:18-26