Hoopoes (Upupidae) are a small family of Old World birds – Africa and Eurasia. In this family there is a single genus with a few species; these are hoopoes (Upupa). All members of this family are drab-looking birds with a long, thin and downward-curved beak, adapted for picking prey from the surface of the ground and foraging for prey in the soil or similar substrate. They are characterized by broad and at the ends rounded black wings with a pattern of white bands, a black tail with a white band and a long crest on the top of the head, which they can raise at will.
They nest in tree hollows or holes in rock or walls, and they mainly hunt on the ground. They are tied to diverse landscapes, where meadows interweave with shrubs and sparse groves; in a dense forest they cannot survive. In Slovenia one species lives – the hoopoe, which in autumn migrates to wintering grounds in Africa, returning in spring to nest here.
