Eurasian hoopoe

Upupa epops · The Eurasian hoopoe is a bird native to Europe, Asia and Africa, migrating from its northern range in winter.

Also called Common hoopoe.

Eurasian hoopoe
Photo: El Golli Mohamed, CC BY-SA 4.0
Eurasian hoopoe
Photo: Greg Schechter from San Francisco, USA, CC BY 2.0
Eurasian hoopoe
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderBucerotiformes
FamilyUpupidae
GenusUpupa
SpeciesUpupa epops

Where it lives

Open country across Europe, Asia and North Africa.

Fun facts

  • From six days old, hoopoe chicks can shoot streams of poop at intruders and hiss like snakes to defend themselves.
  • Nesting hoopoes produce a secretion that smells like rotting meat to help deter predators and parasites.
  • Hoopoes fly with an undulating, butterfly-like flap caused by half-closing their wings between beats.
  • A hoopoe was once spotted flying at about 6,400 m (21,000 ft) during the first Mount Everest expedition.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).