You are here
Darwin's species
Upupa epops
SUMMARY
The Hoopoe is an old world species related to the rollers (Coraciiformes) with five or so identified subspecies (sometimes those five are divided into two species instead of being grouped as one).
These birds have a very distinctive appearance which is demonstrated in the long black tipped orange crests that can be held erect. Their wings are black and white patterned and their face is accented by a long slightly curved beak.
Hoopoes dwell predominately in the grasslands and savannas where they often pace the ground, and eat invertebrates, including insects, that they capture with their probing bills (Britannica Online). They are slow, bounding flyers with long rhythmic wingbeats (Birds of Armenia).
Hoopoes nest in any available cavity, be it in stone, trees, sand or clay. They furnish their nests with feathers and stems (Birds of Armenia). Each nest will contain approximately 5-9 olive-green eggs 26 mm in length (Birds of Armenia).
Because of an intensification of agriculture and a resulting loss of nesting habitat, hoopoes have become rarer in the last half century (Loset 2007).