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Eurasian Hoopoe

Eurasian Hoopoe

Upupa epops

Identify the Eurasian Hoopoe by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Hoopoe is a striking, cinnamon-coloured bird with bold black-and-white wings, a tall fan-shaped crest and a long, down-curved bill. It ranges across Europe, Asia and Africa; northern birds migrate to Africa, while many African populations are resident. Its soft, repeated “oop-oop-oop” call and floppy, butterfly-like flight make it unmistakable. It is the national bird of Israel.

Did you know?

  • A Hoopoe was recorded at about 6,400 m during the first Mount Everest expedition.
  • Special head muscles let it open its bill underground to seize prey.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

It is recognised by its long, fan-shaped crest, usually folded but raised when disturbed. The plumage is orange-brown, and the wings and back have very clear black-and-white bars. The bill is long, thin and slightly down-curved. The flight is undulating and butterfly-like, and its typical call is a low, hollow “oop-oop-oop”.

Family

Upupidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

orange, black, white, brown

About the habitat

Warm, open country with short or bare ground for feeding – pastures, orchards, vineyards, heaths, dunes, parks and open woodland – with cavities for nesting.

Diet

Mainly large insects and their larvae – crickets, beetles, mole crickets, earwigs, ants and fly larvae from dung – as well as worms, spiders and occasionally small lizards and frogs, found by probing the ground with its long bill.

Behaviour

A largely solitary forager that walks with a swaying gait, probing soil, lawns and dung. It raises its crest when excited or alarmed. It often sunbathes with wings spread and takes dust baths. It nests in cavities in trees, walls or buildings; the female incubates while the male feeds her, and the nest becomes notoriously smelly. Northern birds migrate mostly at night.

Sources

Photo: Greg Schechter from San Francisco, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Israel. Eurasian Hoopoe (6497645007).jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC919301, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/919301

Sound: paulo kivuyo, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upupa_africana_-_African_Hoopoe_XC601892.mp3

Text: Wikipedia (English) + GBIF regional observations + Wikipedia (Danish) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; GBIF occurrence data; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_hoopoe

See also