Common Hoopoe
Upupa epops
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderBucerotiformes (Hornbills and Hoopoes)
- FamilyUpupidae (Hoopoes)
- GenusUpupa (Hoopoes)
- SpeciesUpupa epops (Common Hoopoe)
About the Common Hoopoe
The Eurasian hoopoe or common hoopoe (Upupa epops) is the most widespread species of hoopoe. It is a distinctive cinnamon coloured bird with black and white wings, a tall erectile crest, a broad white band across a black tail, and a long narrow downcurved bill. Its call is a soft "oop-oop-oop".
The Eurasian hoopoe is native to Europe, Asia and Africa. It is migratory in the northern part of its range. Some ornithologists consider the Madagascar hoopoe (U. marginata) as a subspecies. The African hoopoe, subspecies U. e. africana, has sometimes been treated as a separate species.
The Eurasian hoopoe was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He cited the earlier descriptions by the French naturalist Pierre Belon and by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner, both of which had been published in 1555. Linnaeus placed the Eurasian hoopoe with the northern bald ibis and the red-billed chough in the genus Upupa and coined the binomial name Upupa epops. The specific epithet epops in the Ancient Greek word for a hoopoe.
Eight subspecies are recognised. The subspecies vary in size and the depth... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Common Hoopoe in Kibale National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Kibale National Park
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Bycanistes subcylindricus
Crowned Hornbill
Lophoceros alboterminatus
White-headed Wood Hoopoe
Phoeniculus bollei
White-thighed Hornbill
Bycanistes albotibialis
African Pied Hornbill
Lophoceros fasciatus
Northern Ground Hornbill
Bucorvus abyssinicus
Piping Hornbill
Bycanistes fistulator
White-crested Hornbill
Horizocerus albocristatus
African Grey Hornbill
Lophoceros nasutus
Black-casqued Hornbill
Ceratogymna atrata
Green Wood Hoopoe
Phoeniculus purpureus
Forest Woodhoopoe
Phoeniculus castaneiceps
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.