The Crested Hoopoe, Kenya

The Crested Hoopoe (Upupa epops) is a resident bird of most of sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Kenya.

It has brown-orange head, neck and underbelly, with a long orange, black-tipped crest feathers that can be raised and lowered. It has black and white bars and spots on its wings and tail. It has short legs and a long, thin, downward-curved beak.

It flies like a butterfly with rounded wings.

The Crested Hoopoe grows to about 28 centimetres (11 inches).

It likes wooded savannas, open parklands and olive groves, as well as urban areas. It is mainly insectivorous, using its long beak to probe the ground for food.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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