Hoopoe delight
You’re lucky if you catch sight of a Hoopoe in the UK, but it’s not an impossibility as some make it over here during migration
Have you been lucky enough to see this rare bird on British soil?
Hoopoes are pretty funny birds all round. They’re funny-looking for a start. Firstly, their coloration: an orangey body with dramatic black-and-white striped wings and a funky crest of orange feathers, tipped in black and white.
Then there’s their shape: they’re not dissimilar to a Mistle Thrush in general size and shape, but with a long, slightly decurved bill which seems balanced at the back of the head by the crest when it’s lying flat at rest, giving the bird a pick-axe shape to its head, perfect for a bird that plunges its bill deep into the ground for food such as grubs, spiders and insects.
However, on landing or if excited, the Hoopoe flares its crest to form a dramatic orange, black-and-white crown. It truly is a sight to behold. Then there’s its funny name. The scientific name for the Eurasian Hoopoe is Upupa epops. Upupa is the Latin name for Hoopoe and epops is the Greek name for Hoopoe, and all three names are onomatopoeic for its
‘ hoop, hoop, hoop’ call.
It can turn up in some pretty funny locations, too. It is widespread across southern Europe and central Asia and down to northern Africa.
Anywhere within this range that offers a mix of areas with short grass or vegetation for feeding and vertical locations with cavities in which to nest are good places to look for Hoopoes. So, if you’re in southern Spain or Portugal, on a golfing holiday for example, watch out for a Hoopoe probing about on the second green.
Funny to the bizarre
Most Hoopoes overwinter in Africa and, as with any migrant species, there’s always the risk of a few individuals going astray on their journey; which is how small numbers of these charismatic birds turn up in the UK in spring, or occasionally autumn. Their choice of location here in Britain, however, can range from the funny to the downright bizarre.
According to birding folklore, a Hoopoe’s preferred habitat in Britain is a vicar’s lawn. Bill Oddie’s brilliant Little Black Bird Book states: “...if a vicar tells you: ‘I’ve seen this big pink bird with black and white bits on it and a sort of a crest.’ That’s a Hoopoe and no mistake. But it’s not a Hoopoe because it’s pink with black and white bits and a crest. It is a Hoopoe because it’s on a vicar’s lawn. If anybody else reports ‘a big bird that is pink with black and white bits and a sort of crest’, it’s a Jay.”
However, on one memorable occasion a few years ago, a Hoopoe turned up round the back of a caravan park in Rhyl in North Wales, not the most salubrious location for such a distinguished visitor, but presumably one which offered plenty of insects, in a relatively undisturbed area by the sewage works!
Another Hoopoe has been wowing people, including me, this October on a cricket pitch in Collingham, near Wetherby in Yorkshire. This particularly confiding bird spent at
least a week here, striding purposefully across the manicured grass of the cricket pitch, constantly probing the soft soil with that magnificent bill. I was amazed by its impressive strike rate, retrieving an inch-long grub from deep in the soil on every fifth probe of its flexible bill.
Each time, the Hoopoe shook the grub vigorously before tossing it right to the back of its throat to down it in a single gulp. All around it, suitably socially distanced, were appreciative birdwatchers, bird photographers and even members of the local camera club, taking photo after photo of this striking bird, which carried on feeding relentlessly, oblivious of rain, admirers or even the local football team playing their Saturday morning match, just feet away.
Birding wishlist
My most poignant Hoopoe sighting, however, was much closer to home, at Conwy RSPB in North Wales. We were scheduled to guide a friend called Becky on one of our Best of North Wales birdwatching daytrips.
Becky had previously told us that her most-wanted bird was a Hoopoe, and it had become a bit of a joke between us, as it was always on her wishlist for the day.
So, imagine our delight when a Hoopoe miraculously turned up at our local reserve in perfect time for Becky’s daytrip, this time around. As soon as she arrived that morning, we whisked her onto the reserve almost quicker than her feet could keep pace; and breathed a sigh of relief as the Hoopoe strode into view.
It fulfilled Becky’s wildest dreams of Hoopoeness, as it probed the ground for food and flared its superb crest. We even had a brief flashing display of its striped wings, as it took flight into cover to evade the unwanted interest of a Sparrowhawk. However, it soon popped back into view again and we continued to soak up the views for ages, until even Becky agreed that her Hoopoe meter was reading ‘full’. If only we had left it at that.
However, as Becky had wanted to see a Hoopoe for so very long, we made the fateful decision to pop back to Conwy RSPB for one last look at the end of the day. We headed into the visitor centre just in time to see another birdwatcher showing the staff member an image on the back of his camera.
It was a frame-filling photograph of the Hoopoe, but this time in the talons of a Peregrine which had spotted the unfortunate bird and which was last seen bearing its exotic meal down the Conwy Valley and away into the distance. A truly funny-sad moment and one that poor Becky will never forget.
So, a few things to bear in mind about Hoopoes: they apparently like grass-based sport, such as golf or cricket; they LOVE vicar’s gardens; but unfortunately, they are susceptible to raptor attack. After all, who doesn’t like Mediterranean food for a change!
Ruth Miller is one half of The Biggest Twitch team, and along with partner Alan Davies, set the then world record for most bird species seen in a year – 4,341, in 2008, an experience they wrote about in their book, The Biggest Twitch. Indeed, Ruth is still the female world record-holder! As well as her work as a tour leader, she is the author of the Birds, Boots and Butties books, on walking, birding and tea-drinking in North Wales, and previously worked as the RSPB’s head of trading. She lives in North Wales. birdwatchingtrips.co.uk