The Hoopoe is a garish crowned species of bird found across parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. They have a conspicuous crest of headfeathers that can be displayed in a fan or flat against the back of the head.
The Hoopoe's habitat is open cultivated ground with short grass or bare patches. They spend a lot of time on the ground hunting for insects and worms. The song is 'oop-oop-oop', which gives rise to its common and Latin names.
Hoopoes are widespread across their range, and have a conservation status of Least Concern as of July 2014.
The Hoopoe is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
If you think our Birdorable birds are cute as adults, what about when they are babies? Below are some baby photos (shared via Flickr) of the Hoopoe. The Eurasian Hoopoe lives throughout northern parts of Africa, and much of Europe and Asia. We have been lucky to... Read more »
The Hoopoe is a striking crested bird that lives across Europe, Asia and Africa. They are named for their call, 'oop-oop-oop'. At rest their crest lays flat but in our extra cute Birdorable version, the crest is erect and expanded. This Hoopoe... Read more »
