hoopoe

noun

hoo·​poe ˈhü-(ˌ)pü 

-(ˌ)pō

: a crested Old World nonpasserine bird (Upupa epops of the family Upupidae) having a slender decurved bill and barred black-and-white wings and tail

Examples of hoopoe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Other top-scoring creatures included emerald turacos with bright green crests adorning their heads; pigeons sporting a vibrant variety of colorful feathers; and the hoopoe, an African bird with an impressive mohawk and orange, black and white stripes, reports Hannah Seo for Popular Science. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 May 2021

The hoopoe's skull contains more spongy bone, an airy-looking material made of branches surrounding pockets of space. —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 28 Oct. 2011

Compared to the hoopoe, the brain of the woodpecker is packed tightly in dense bone. —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 28 Oct. 2011

Animals and plants that have been driven from much of Europe’s intensively farmed landscapes, including wolves, the Eurasian hoopoe bird and a plant called great horsetail, are reclaiming areas that were considered dead just a few years ago. —Washington Post, 14 June 2018

Word History

Etymology

alteration of obsolete hoop, from Middle French huppe, from Latin upupa, of imitative origin

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above