Parque Nacional Garajonay

Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

It inhabits open land halfway up the mountain, pine forests and even in desert areas. It measures 28 centimetres and flies in a slow and undulating manner. Generally, it eats toads and frogs as well as large insects and worms on the bare ground.  It makes its nest in holes on old trees and raises its young between April and July in nests which increase progressively in the degree of smell they give off with the accumulation of excrement which it is impossible for the adults to remove. A smell of rotten flesh is given off by the young so as to repel the possible intruders who might otherwise be attracted to the nest.

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