06/09/2021
African Hoopoe
Upupa africana
Bucerotiformes Order – Upupidae Family
African Hoopoe has rich chestnut colouration, contrasting with black and white stripes on wings and tail.
Underparts are reddish-brown. Head and back show the same colour. Broad rounded wings are heavily marked black and white. Square tail is black and shows a white wide band.
Head has a conspicuous crest, made with long chestnut feathers, with a bold black tip. This crest may take two forms, according to the moment. It may be as held straight, or erected in a rounded crown.Dark bill is long, slender and down-curved. Eyes are dark brown. Legs and feet are brownish.Female is duller than male.
Immature resembles female with shorter crest.
VOICE:
African Hoopoe’s call is a distinctive “hoo-poo” repeated 3 to 5 times or more.
HABITAT:
African Hoopoe lives in open and brushy areas. We can find it in parks and gardens, thornveld and riverine woodlands in dry areas.
RANGE:
African Hoopoe is distributed in Europe, Tropical Asia and Madagascar. It lives in Africa where it is widespread, except in western and central equatorial lowlands forests.
BEHAVIOUR:
African Hoopoe forages on the ground, probing the leaf-litter with its slender bill. It walks easily and may run, with some movements of the head, and stopping frequently to probe, dig and pick food off the ground. It snatches up insects in its long bill, and before to eat, it beats them on the ground to remove legs and wings. Then, it tosses up the prey and catches it in its open bill.African Hoopoe’s crest is depressed when at rest or quiet, but when it is alarmed or excited, crest erects in beautiful circular shape.
African Hoopoe is monogamous, generally found singly or in pairs. They nest in cavities, and they are notorious for their dirty nests: repugnant smell, dropping not removed, and these birds produce a foul-smelling secretion from an oil-gland.African Hoopoes are migratory in some parts of their range, but other populations are sedentary.
If a Hoopoe is threatened by a raptor, it flattens itself against the ground, spreading wings and tail, and bill pointed straight up.
FLIGHT:
African Hoopoe has an undulating and erratic flight
