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Eurasian Hoopoes are about Magpie-lark-sized birds with an impressive erectile crest. The front, sides of the head and nape are pale pinkish-brown, while the frons and crest are light-brown. The crest feathers have black tips. The back is more greyish than the front. The wings have a very prominent black and wide bar pattern. Also the undertail is black and white barred, while the uppertail is black with a white base and white sides. The eyes have dark irises. The long, slim, slightly downcurved bill, is grey, with a lighter-grey base. The legs and feet are also grey.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Eurasian Hoopoe is available HERE .

Eurasian Hoopoes are a widespread species, of which there are in total 6 races. Their distribution ranges from parts of North-west Africa to parts of Europe (not the British Isles, Scandinavia, the Benelux countries and most of Germany), Asia Minor, parts of the Middle East, mostly coastal parts of Arabia and all across the southern parts of Asia (except only parts of western China and central Pakistan), as far as eastern China and Russia. Towards the South, they are found all across India and Sri Lanka, as well as south-eastern Asia, down to southern Thailand (but normally not Malaysia). There are only rare reports of vagrants going as far as northern tropical Australia. Northern mid-latitude regions are their breeding grounds, while in subtropical areas they are permanent residents. In some areas (e.g. western India) they are found only during the northern winter.

Usually, there are no Eurasian Hoopoes in Australia. However, Eurasian Hoopoes [race "longirostris"] are very rarely reported as vagrants along the tropical North coast.

Eurasian Hoopoes can live in a variety of habitats, which must include two features: bare soil for foraging and vertical surfaces (trees or cliffs) for nesting.

We have not seen an Eurasian Hoopoe in Australia yet, but a single bird was reportedly seen (and photographed) at Galiwinku on Elcho Island, NT, in February 2014, right after the passage of a tropical cyclone.

We have previously seen Eurasian Hoopoes, nominate race "epops", in Oman.