Upupa epops (Common Hoopoe)
Upupa epops – Common Hoopoe (click to enlarge)
| Common name | Common Hoopoe |
| Scientific name | Upupa epops |
| Family | Upupidae |
| Description | A fawn  coloured bird with black and white Zebra markings on back, wings and tail. A conspicuous fan-shaped crest and long, slender, gently curved bill. Sexes alike. Singly or pairs, usually on the ground in lightly-wooded country. Practically throughout the Indian Union. Affects open country, plains and hills up to about 2000 m elevation. It is migratory bird and it migrates upto the altitude of 4200m (Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, Spiti Valley) Found of lawns, gardens and groves in and around villages and towns. Walks and runs with a quail-like nut waddling gait, probing into the soil for good with bill partly open like forceps. When digging, the crest is folded back and projects in a point behind the head. It is flicked open and erected fanwise from time to time. Insects, grubs and pupae; hence is beneficial to agriculture. |