- Upupa africana
Description
There is some debate about whether the African Hoopoe and the Eurasian Hoopoe are 2 species or simply subspecies of Upupa epops. In the field they can be distinguished from overall colouration (africana is a richer chestnut) and the absence of a white sub-terminal band on the primaries in the African Hoopoe. They're ground feeders and take mainly insects, although they'll also eat small reptiles. They use their bill for probing the earth and animal dung. They also turn over leaf litter etc to find prey.