Eurasian hoopoe
Eurasian hoopoe | |
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Individual in Almora, Uttarakhand, India with a raised crown | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Bucerotiformes |
Family: | Upupidae |
Genus: | Upupa |
Species: | U. epops
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Binomial name | |
Upupa epops |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Upupa_distribution.png/220px-Upupa_distribution.png)
Eurasian hoopoe (breeding)
Eurasian hoopoe (resident)
Eurasian hoopoe (wintering)
Madagascar hoopoe
African hoopoe
The Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops) is the most widespread species of the genus
The Eurasian hoopoe is native to Europe, Asia and the northern half of Africa. It is migratory in the northern part of its range. Some ornithologists consider the African and Madagascar hoopoes its subspecies.
Taxonomy
The Eurasian hoopoe was
Subspecies
Six
Subspecies[6] | Breeding range[6] | Distinctive features[7] |
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U. e. epops Linnaeus, 1758 |
northwest Africa and Europe east to central south Russia, northwest China and northwest India | Nominate |
U. e. ceylonensis Reichenbach, 1853 |
central, south India and Sri Lanka | Smaller than nominate, more rufous overall, no white in crest |
U. e. longirostris Jerdon, 1862 |
northeast India to south China, Indochina and north Malay Peninsula | Larger than nominate, pale |
U. e. major Brehm C.L., 1855 |
Egypt | Larger than nominate, longer billed, narrower tailband, greyer upperparts |
U. e. senegalensis Swainson, 1837 |
Senegal and Gambia to Somalia | Smaller than nominate, shorter winged |
U. e. waibeli Reichenow, 1913 |
Cameroon to northwest Kenya and north Uganda | As senegalensis but darker plumage and more white on wings |
Description
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/ABUBILLA_%28Upupa_epops%29.jpg/214px-ABUBILLA_%28Upupa_epops%29.jpg)
![Hoopoes seen in Tenerife in July 2021](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Hoopoe_Canary_Islands.jpg/220px-Hoopoe_Canary_Islands.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Common_Hoopoe_%28Upapa_epops%29_at_Hodal_I_IMG_9225.jpg/220px-Common_Hoopoe_%28Upapa_epops%29_at_Hodal_I_IMG_9225.jpg)
The Eurasian hoopoe is a medium-sized bird, 25–32 cm (9.8–12.6 in) long, with a 44–48 cm (17–19 in) wingspan. It weighs 46–89 g (1.6–3.1 oz).[7] The species is highly distinctive, 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 hoopoe has broad and rounded wings capable of strong flight; these are larger in the northern migratory subspecies. The hoopoe has a characteristic undulating flight, which is like that of a giant butterfly, caused by the wings half closing at the end of each beat or short sequence of beats.[7] Adults may begin their moult after the breeding season and continue after they have migrated for the winter.[8]
The 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. An alternative explanation of the English and scientific names is that they are derived from the French name for the bird, huppée, which means crested. In the Himalayas, the calls can be confused with that of the
Distribution and habitat
The Eurasian hoopoe is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa and northern Sub-Saharan Africa.
The hoopoe has two basic requirements of its habitat: bare or lightly vegetated ground on which to forage and vertical surfaces with cavities (such as trees, cliffs or even walls, nestboxes, haystacks, and abandoned burrows[16]) in which to nest. These requirements can be provided in a wide range of ecosystems, and as a consequence the hoopoe inhabits a wide range of habitats such as heathland, wooded steppes, savannas and grasslands, as well as forest glades.
Hoopoes make seasonal movements in response to rain in some regions such as in Ceylon and in the Western Ghats.[20] Birds have been seen at high altitudes during migration across the Himalayas. One was recorded at about 6,400 m (21,000 ft) by the first Mount Everest expedition.[9]
Behaviour and ecology
In what was long thought to be a defensive posture, hoopoes sunbathe by spreading out their wings and tail low against the ground and tilting their head up; they often fold their wings and preen halfway through.[21] They also enjoy taking dust and sand baths.[22]
Food and feeding
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Eurasian_hoopoe_%28Upupa_epops%29_juvenile_in_nest_box.jpg/220px-Eurasian_hoopoe_%28Upupa_epops%29_juvenile_in_nest_box.jpg)
The diet of the Eurasian hoopoe is mostly composed of insects, although small reptiles, frogs and plant matter such as seeds and berries are sometimes taken as well. It is a solitary forager which typically feeds on the ground. More rarely they will feed in the air, where their strong and rounded wings make them fast and manoeuvrable, in pursuit of numerous swarming insects. More commonly their foraging style is to stride over relatively open ground and periodically pause to probe the ground with the full length of their bill. Insect larvae, pupae and mole crickets are detected by the bill and either extracted or dug out with the strong feet. Hoopoes 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 bark. Common diet items include crickets, locusts, beetles, earwigs, cicadas, ant lions, bugs and ants. These can range from 10 to 150 mm (3⁄8 to 5+7⁄8 in) in length, with a preferred prey size of around 20–30 mm (3⁄4–1+1⁄8 in). Larger prey items are beaten against the ground or a preferred stone to kill them and remove indigestible body parts such as wings and legs.[7]
Breeding
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Young_and_mature_hoopoe.jpg/220px-Young_and_mature_hoopoe.jpg)
The hoopoe genus is
The incubation period for the species is between 15 and 18 days, during which time the male feeds the female. Incubation begins as soon as the first egg is laid, so the chicks are born asynchronously. The chicks hatch with a covering of downy feathers. By around day three to five, feather quills emerge which will become the adult feathers. The chicks are brooded by the female for between 9 and 14 days.[7] The female later joins the male in the task of bringing food.[22] The young fledge in 26 to 29 days and remain with the parents for about a week more.[16] Hoopoes show hatching asynchrony of eggs which is thought to allow for brood reduction when food availability is low.[24]
Hoopoes have well-developed anti-predator defences in the nest. The uropygial gland of the incubating and brooding female is quickly modified to produce a foul-smelling liquid, and the glands of nestlings do so as well. These secretions are rubbed into the plumage. The secretion, which smells like rotting meat, is thought to help deter predators, as well as deter parasites and possibly act as an antibacterial agent.[25] Recent evidence suggests that the secretions may vary in composition depending on the microbiological composition of the female's uropygial gland; furthermore, the secretions may have an impact on the color of eggs, serving as an indicator of antimicrobial health for the adults during incubation. The secretions stop soon before the young leave the nest.[21] From the age of six days, nestlings can also direct streams of faeces at intruders, and will hiss at them in a snake-like fashion.[7] The young also strike with their bill or with one wing.[21]
Relationship with humans
The diet of the Eurasian hoopoe includes many species considered by humans to be
Hoopoes are distinctive birds and have made a cultural impact over much of their range. They were considered sacred in
In the
The hoopoe also appears in the
Hoopoes were seen as a symbol of virtue in
Hoopoes were thought of as thieves across much of Europe, and harbingers of war in Scandinavia.[30] In Estonian tradition, hoopoes are strongly connected with death and the underworld; their song is believed to foreshadow death for many people or cattle.[31]
The hoopoe is the king of the birds in the
The hoopoe was chosen as the
In Morocco, hoopoes are traded live and as medicinal products in the markets, primarily in herbalist shops. This trade is unregulated and a potential threat to local populations[37]
Three CGI enhanced hoopoes, together with other birds collectively named "the tittifers", are often shown whistling a song in the BBC children's television series In the Night Garden....
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Hoopoe featured in The Sketching of Rare Birds by Emperor Huizong of Song in the 12th century
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Hoopoe innational bird.
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The Hoopoe bird was recorded as residing in Britain in the 18th century
Conservation
The Eurasian Hoopoe is listed as a species of "Least concern" by the IUCN. Despite the fact, the species has been in a continuous decline according to the organisation since 2008,[38] the causes being loss of habitat and over-hunting.
Hunting is of concern in southern Europe and Asia.[15]
In Europe, the hoopoe seems to have a stable population though it is threatened in several regions. The bird is considered extinct in Sweden[39] and "needing active conservation" in Poland.[40] The species has recovered and stabilised in Switzerland, however they remain vulnerable.[41]
Citations
- . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ a b Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 117.
- ^ Belon, Pierre (1555). L'histoire de la natvre des oyseavx : avec levrs descriptions, & naïfs portraicts retirez du natvrel, escrite en sept livres (in French). Paris: Gilles Corrozet. p. 293.
- ^ Gesner, Conrad (1555). Historiae animalium liber III qui est de auium natura. Adiecti sunt ab initio indices alphabetici decem super nominibus auium in totidem linguis diuersis: & ante illos enumeratio auium eo ordiné quo in hoc volumine continentur (in Latin). Zurich: Froschauer. p. 743.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, trogons, hoopoes, hornbills". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-84-87334-30-6.
- ISBN 978-1-4729-0647-2.
- ^ a b Ali, Sálim; Ripley, S. Dillon (1970). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, together with those of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. Vol. 4: Frogmouths to Pittas. Bombay, India: Oxford University Press. pp. 124–129.
- S2CID 43360238.
- PMID 20221266.
- PMID 28035259.
- PMID 30305904.
- ^ Dau, Christian; Paniyak, Jack (1977). "Hoopoe, A First Record for North America" (PDF). Auk. 94 (3): 601.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7922-4175-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7099-2020-5.
- ISBN 978-0-906671-55-9.
- ^ Healy, Alison (27 April 2015). "Hoopoe causing a hoopla in southeast as 50 exotic birds spotted". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ "Hoopoe invasion of Ireland's south coast". Ireland's Wildlife. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ Champion-Jones, RN (1937). "The Ceylon Hoopoe (Upupa epops ceylonensis Reichb.)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 39 (2): 418.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55297-777-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89577-065-3.
- .
- .
- PMID 16751538.
- S2CID 11447864.
- ^ Marshall, Amandine (2015). "The child and the hoopoe in ancient Egypt". KMT. 72 (26.1): 59–63.
- ^ Deuteronomy Chapter 14:18 Archived 2019-01-22 at the Wayback Machine. mechon-mamre.org
- ^ Smith, Margaret (1932). The Persian Mystics 'Attar'. New York: E.P.Dutton and Company. p. 27.
- JSTOR 1260073.
- ^ Mall Hiiemäe, Forty birds in Estonian folklore IV. translate.google.com
- ^ Garth, Samuel; Dryden, John; et al. "'Metamorphoses' by Ovid".
- ^ Book 5, lines 6041 and 6046. Gower, John (2008-07-03). Confessio Amantis. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ^ Kline, A.S. (2000). "The Metamorphoses: They are transformed into birds". Archived from the original on 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ^ "Day in pictures". San Francisco Chronicle. Reuters. May 29, 2008. Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ Erlichman, Erez (30 May 2008). "Hoopoe Israel's new national bird". ynet.
- ^ "Illegal trade in wild birds in Morocco: photo-report". MaghrebOrnitho. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ^ "decrease". IUCN. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "extinct". Artfakta. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "conservation". Polska. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "VU". BAFU. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-19-857507-8.
External links
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