Fujairah Fauna: Eurasian Hoopoe Bird

Every year, the UAE welcomes nearly two million feathered friends to the country, from large migratory birds such as flamingos and eagles to small shore birds such as little stint.

In addition to a wide variety of migratory birds, the UAE is also home to resident and migratory breeding species such as Socotra cormorants, crab plovers and sooty falcons.

The Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops) is the most widespread species of the genus Upupa. 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 naroow downcurved bill. Its call is a soft “oop-oop-oop”.

It is native to Europe, Asia and the northern of Africa. It is migratory in the northern part of its range. It spends most of the time on the ground probing for grubs and insects. The clutch o seven to eight eggs to eight eggs is laid in an existing cavity. The eggs are incubated by the female and hatch asynchronously, this refers to a clutch of eggs that hatch days apart rather than hatching at the same time.

Hoopoe Bird can be seen across the Emirate of Fujairah