Common Hoopoe: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Clever Birds · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. A nesting female hoopoe and her chicks rub a smelly liquid into their feathers. It smells like rotting meat and is thought to keep predators away.
2. From six days old, hoopoe chicks can squirt poo at intruders, and they hiss at them like a snake.
3. Hoopoes have been spotted high over the Himalayas on migration. The first Everest expedition recorded one at about 6,400 m.
4. In central and northern Europe and Asia, a hoopoe lays around 12 eggs. In the tropics, a clutch is only about four.
5. In May 2008 the hoopoe became Israel's national bird, chosen in a national survey of 155,000 citizens.

The quiz

1. What does a nesting female hoopoe's liquid smell like?

• Fresh flowers
• Wet soil
• Smoke
• Rotting meat (correct)

The liquid smells like rotting meat and is thought to keep predators away.

2. From what age can hoopoe nestlings spray faeces at intruders?

• Six days old (correct)
• One day old
• Two weeks old
• One month old

From six days old, chicks can squirt poo at intruders.

3. At about what height was a hoopoe documented by the first Everest expedition?

• About 640 m
• About 6,400 m (correct)
• About 1,600 m
• About 9,400 m

The first Everest expedition recorded a hoopoe at about 6,400 m.

4. How many eggs does a hoopoe lay in central and northern Europe and Asia?

• Around 4
• Around 7
• Around 12 (correct)
• Around 20

A female lays around 12 eggs there, against about four in the tropics.

5. How many citizens took part in the 2008 survey that made the hoopoe Israel's national bird?

• 1,550
• 15,500
• 155,000 (correct)
• 15.5 million

A national survey of 155,000 citizens chose the hoopoe in May 2008.

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