härfågel

Swedish

Etymology

Just like its Latin (Upupa) and English names (hoopoe), the Swedish name originates from the sound of the bird, interpreted as "Upp! Upp! Upp! Ut! Ut!" (up, up, up, out, out), a sign of bad times of war and starvation. This gave the bird the name of oäringsfågel already in Medieval times, which later has turned into härfågel. Oäring being the negation (o-) of äring, a good year's harvest.

Noun

härfågel c

1. a hoopoe, the bird Upupa epops

Declension

Declension of härfågel
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	härfågel	härfågeln	härfåglar	härfåglarna
Genitive	härfågels	härfågelns	härfåglars	härfåglarnas

Further reading

• härfågel in Svensk ordbok.