Upupidae
| Hoopoe | |
|---|---|
_Photograph_by_Shantanu_Kuveskar.jpg) |
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Upupa epops
from Mangaon, Maharashtra, India |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Bucerotiformes |
| Family: |
Upupidae Leach, 1820 |
| Genus: |
Upupa Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Species: | U. epops |
| Binomial name | |
|
Upupa epops Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Approximate native range. nesting resident (all year) wintering |
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from Mangaon, Maharashtra, India
The hoopoe /ˈhuːpuː/ (Upupa epops) is a colourful bird found across Afro-Eurasia, notable for its distinctive "crown" of feathers. It is the only extant species in the family Upupidae. One insular species, the Saint Helena hoopoe, is extinct, and the Madagascar subspecies of the hoopoe is sometimes elevated to a full species.
Upupa and epops are respectively the Latin and Ancient Greek names for the hoopoe; both, like the English name, are onomatopoeic forms which imitate the cry of the bird. In Ancient Egypt the species was known under two names. The earliest most probably having been *'db3.w' and/or *'db3.t') '(lit.:)the one who blocks up <its nesthole'>'. Therefore also the early Eg. word 'db<3>.t' (from which late Egyptian Demotic 'tby', Coptic 'toobe' and subsequently Arabic '(al-)tube' and French and English 'adobe' are derived) meaning sundried brick' ('lit.: 'the one that blocks up <a wall>') was often written with the the 'hoopoe'-hieroglyph, here used as a phonogram. (See Sir A.H.Gardiner, 'Egyptian Grammar', Signlist G22 (hierogyph of) Hoopoe, used as Phonogram: ḏb/ḏbt. And cf. http://www. Dianabuja's Blog: Africa. The Middle East, Agriculture, History and Culture > Ebony and Adobe: Modern Words that Survive from Ancient Egypt -What, How and Why, 1) The youngest name -dating from New Kingdom to late demotic texts- was 'kkp.t' (probl.: 'koukoupat'), this name akin to Biblical Hebrew 'douchiphat', which word is apparently not formed from any Ancient Egyptian root. (drs. Carles Wolterman, Egyptologist)
The hoopoe was classified in the clade Coraciiformes, which also includes kingfishers, bee-eaters, and rollers. A close relationship between the hoopoe and the woodhoopoes is also supported by the shared and unique nature of their stapes. In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the hoopoe is separated from the Coraciiformes as a separate order, the Upupiformes. Some authorities place the woodhoopoes in the Upupiformes as well. Now the consenus is that both hoopoe and the wood hoopoes, along with the hornbills are placed in Bucerotiformes.
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Wikipedia