Never did I think I'd be able to watch and photograph this amazing bird, rare in the UK, close to home in Yorkshire. But sure enough for two weeks in October 2020 this little guy was seen daily and was very obliging. I've uploaded a full gallery of images here - /-/galleries/collections/britain/hoopoe
There are 3 species of Hoopoe; the Eurasian or European species, African Hoopoe and the largest Madagascan Hoopoe. I've been fortunate enough to see the Madagascan Hoopoe in Anjajavy in the north west of the country back in 2015.
I'd always quite fancied visiting one of the many hides in Europe to see their Eurasian cousin. That is, until this amazing bird showed up 30mins from home...
It gets its name from its call, making an 'oop, oop, oop' sound. Their characteristic lengthy, slightly bent beak allows it to forage through vegetation, dig into the ground to find insects to eat. Indeed the one that showed up locally had no problem finding Crane Fly Larvae. So much so he (no idea if its a he or she) spent pretty much the entire day for two weeks digging these larvae up! Occasionally the larvae would try to wriggle free, so the Hoopoe would use his beak to prod and poke until it was safe to swallow, doing so by tilting his head back and tossing the larvae into the air, as the photo above shows.
Hoopoes like warm temperatures, so are most numerous around the Mediterranean, hence the amazement in seeing one as far north as Yorkshire. According to news reports I read I understand its the first time one has been seen in Yorkshire for 40 years, so most likely I won't see another one locally again. But climate change could change that, as we may well see their breeding range move north. While seeing them is amazing, its reflective of the sad reality of what we're doing to the planet.
Interestingly, the Hoopoe is unique, alone in its taxonomic family. Its closest relatives are kingfishers, bee-eaters, and woodhoopoes.
Spain has the largest European population, but it is also considered common in Portugal, southern France, Italy, the Balkans and Greece. It is considered a rarity that one would, perhaps accidentally, migrate to the UK.
Hoopoes are considered 'partially migratory', meaning most of them in the north of their range go south for the winter but a few remain on the breeding grounds all year round.
Occasionally this Hoopoe would fly into a nearby housing estate finding insects to eat in-between paving stones and on driveways...