Hoopoes is a medium-sized colorful bird, almost 25 to 32 cm long, with a 44 to 48 cm wingspan. The bird weighs is approximately 46 to 89 g. The species is highly distinctive, notable for its distinctive “crown” of feathers with a long, thin tapering bill that is black with a fawn base. The strengthened musculature of the head allows the bill to be opened when probing inside the soil. The bird has wide and rounded wings gifted with strong flight; these are larger in the northern migratory subspecies. The bird has a characteristic undulating flight, which is the same as that of a giant butterfly, caused by the wings half closing at the end of each beat or a short sequence of beats.
The Hoopoes or Upupa epops are the only extant species in the family Upupidae. Well, same as the Latin name Upupa, the English name is an onomatopoeic form that reproduces the cry of the bird. The Hoopoes are the national bird of the Republic of Israel. The bird is named after its vocalizations, the Eurasian Hoopoes emits a low “hoop, hoop, hoop, hoop”.
The pinkish-brown to chestnut plumage with black and white bars and an inspiring fan-like crest make the Eurasian Hoopoes instantly recognizable. The Eurasian hoopoe forages mainly on short grass and bare soil for invertebrates. The bird’s call is typically a trisyllabic oop-oop-oop, which may give rise to its English and scientific names, although two and four-syllables are also common. The Hoopoe is prevalent in Europe, Asia, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Madagascar. Most European and North Asian birds migrate to the tropics in winter. In contrast, the African populations are sedentary all year.
The species has been a vagrant in Alaska; U. e. saturata was recorded they’re in 1975 in the Yukon Delta. Hoopoes have been known to breed north of their European range, and in southern England during warm, dry summers that provide plenty of grasshoppers and similar insects, although as of the early 1980s northern European populations were reported to be in the decline, possibly due to changes in climate.
The unique Hoopoes have two basic requirements for their habitat, one is bare or lightly vegetated ground on which to forage and vertical surfaces with cavities in which to nest. These requirements can be provided in a wide range of ecosystems, and as a result, the Hoopoes inhabit a wide range of habitats such as heathland, wooded steppes, savannas, and grasslands, as well as forest glades.
The change of natural habitats by humans for numerous agricultural purposes has led to Hoopoes becoming common in olive groves, orchards, vineyards, parkland, and farmland, even though they’re less common and are declining in intensively farmed areas. Moreover, hunting is of concern in southern Europe and Asia.
The beautiful Hoopoes are distinctive birds and have made a big cultural impact over much of their range. Though they were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt and were portrayed on the walls of tombs and temples. They achieved a similar standing in Minoan Crete. The Hoopoes make seasonal travelers in response to rain in some regions such as Ceylon and in the Western Ghats. The birds have been seen at high altitudes during migration across the Himalayas. One case was recorded at about 21,000 feet by the first Mount Everest expedition.
In what was long thought to be a defensive posture, normally Hoopoes sunbathe by spreading out their wings and tail low against the ground and tilting they’re head up; they frequently fold their wings and preen halfway through. They also like taking dust and sand baths.
The Hoopoe diet mostly consists of insects, small reptiles, frogs, and plant matter such as seeds and berries that are sometimes taken as well. You know it is a solitary forager that naturally feeds on the ground. Moreover, they’ll rarely feed in the air, where their strong and rounded wings make them fast and maneuverable, in pursuit of plentiful swarming insects. The bird’s common they’re foraging style is to stride over relatively open ground and occasionally pause to probe the ground with the full length of its bill. The Hoopoe insect larvae, pupae, and mole crickets are detected by the bill and either extracted or dug out with strong feet.
Hoopoe will also feed on insects on the surface, probe into piles of leaves, and even use the bill to lever large stones and flake off the bark. The Hoopoe’s common diet items include crickets, locusts, beetles, earwigs, cicadas, ant lions, bugs, and ants. Hoopoes are monogamous, though the pair bond actually only lasts for a single season, and is territorial.
The male bird calls frequently to promote his ownership of the territory. Chases and fights between rival males and sometimes females are common and can be brutal. Hoopoe birds like to stab rivals with their bills, and individuals are occasionally blinded in fights. The Hoopoe prefer to make the nest in a hole in a tree or wall and left a narrow entrance in them.
It may be unlined, or numerous scraps may be collected. The female bird is accountable for incubating the eggs. Because their clutch size varies with location: northern hemisphere birds lay more eggs than those in the southern hemisphere, and birds at higher latitudes have larger clutches than those closer to the equator.
In central & northern Europe and Asia, the clutch size is about 12, while it is about 4 in the tropics and 7 in the subtropics. The egg shapes are round and milky blue when laid but rapidly discolor in the increasingly dirty nest. They weigh 4.5 grams. Hoopoes have well-developed anti-predator defenses in the nest. The uropygial gland of the incubating and brooding female is speedily modified to create a foul-smelling liquid, and the glands of nestlings do so as well.
These secretions are rubbed into the plumage, which smells like rotting meat, and are thought to support deter predators, as well as deter parasites and probably act as an antibacterial agent. The secretions end soon before the young leave the nest. From the age of six days, nestlings can also direct streams of faces at intruders and will hiss at them in a snake-like fashion. The young also strike with their bill or with one wing.
The incubation period for the species lies between 15 to 18 days, during that time the male feeds the female bird. However, incubation initiates as soon as the first egg is laid, so the chicks are born asynchronously. The baby chicks hatch with a covering of downy feathers. Moreover, after around three to five days, feather quills emerge which will become adult feathers. The baby bird is brooded by the female for between nine to fourteen days.
The female bird later joins the male in the task of carrying food. The young fledge in 26 to 29 days and remain with the parents for about a week more. The main diet of the hoopoe includes numerous species considered by humans to be pests, such as the pupae of the processionary moth, a damaging forest pest. So, for this reason, the species are afforded protection under the law in various countries.
Hoopoes also have (zikr) appeared in the Qur’an and are recognized as the “hudhud”, in Surah Al-Naml 27:20–22: “And Prophet Hazrat Salman (A.S) sought among the birds and said: How is it that I see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent? I verily will punish him with hard punishment or I verily will slay him, or he verily shall bring me a plain excuse.
But the Hoopoe was not long in coming, and he said: I have found out (a thing) that thou apprehendest not, and I come unto thee from Sheba with sure tidings.” Islamic literature also states that a hoopoe saved Moses and the children of Israel from being crushed by the giant Og after crossing the Red Sea.
You can read out full article of Prophet Sulayman (PBUH), Bilqees, and the Hud-Hud at the Muslim village.
Hoopoes were seen as a symbol of virtue in Persia. A hoopoe was a leader of the birds in the Persian book of poems The Conference of the Birds (“Mantiq al-Tayr” by Attar) points out that the “Simurgh” was the king of the birds. Hoopoes were thought of as thieves across much of Europe and harbingers of war in Scandinavia.
In Estonian tradition, hoopoes are strongly connected with death and the underworld; their song is believed to foreshadow death for many people or cattle. The hoopoe is the king of the birds in the Ancient Greek comedy The Birds by Aristophanes. The bird’s crest indicates his royal status, and his long, sharp beak is a symbol of his violent nature. English translators and poets probably had the northern lapwing in mind, considering its crest. Let’s see a video of a pair of these beautiful birds grassing in the fields. This is a migratory bird and has often come to Lahore Pakistan in the spring season. When the season is over, they moved to some other location.
Also Read: Magnificent Blue-Footed Booby
The Wonderful “Hoopoe or Eurasian hoopoe” is a Notable distinctive Crown Feathers Bird from Tauheed Ahmad Nawaz on Vimeo.
