Common Hoopoe : An Agile & Colourful Bird

kamalparu
Dec 20
2 min read

Updated: Dec 21

Common Hoopoe : An Agile & Colourful Bird

Common Hoopoe

Common Hoopoe in search of food

· As we have not sighted the vibrant – colour bird ‘Common Hoopoe’ since a long time duration, we were thinking where all these hoopoes have gone. Recently we got opportunity to view some hoopoes during morning walk and clicked some photographs of this beautiful bird which display a distinctive crest (कलगी ) and a long bill.

Salient Features of Common Hoopoe:

· A resident bird of India, having magnificent crest which is very striking. When stretched fully, it appears very beautiful.

· They possess downward-carved long bills which help them in pecking and probing the ground and find out insects hidden below the earth surface.

· Their body mainly display rufous – orange to orange-buff, have alternate lining of black & white colour on the wings. Tail is mainly black at tip with white stripes. Wings are broad and rounded.

· Their appearance during flight is very attractive. Their flight is undulating and slow.

· Their calls include a repetitive ‘poop, poop, poop’. This could be a reason to call them as ‘Hoopoe’.

· They are mainly sighted in open country, cultivation, woodland, scrubland, woods, parks & gardens.

· They are mainly insectivorous and feed on insects lying below ground surface with the help of their long & sharp bills. Insect larvae, pupae and mole crickets are their main food.

Common Hoopoe in Natural Habitat

· Its scientific name is ‘Upupa Epops’ and belongs to ‘Upupidae’ family. Common Hoopoe is the only species in this family found in India. We may say this is the representative bird of its family.

· Its Hindi name is ‘ हुदहुद (Hudhud) ‘.

· IUCN conservation status: Least Concern (LC).

· It is the national bird of Israel.

# As the number of Common Hoopoe is dwindling gradually, we all should make effort for their protection & survival which will help in conservation of our ecology.

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