11-05-2025
Brits mesmerised by outlandish bird in gardens after 'deadly rivalries' exposed
Birdwatchers should keep their eyes peeled for the pink hoopoe - a bird with pink plumage, chequerboard wings and a fancy crest that can be spotted in the UK as the mercury rises
Nature lovers have every right to feel tickled pink this spring. Candyfloss sunsets and dazzling cherry blossom extravaganzas have left the countryside glowing as if viewed through rose-tinted binoculars. Yet if anything is going to leave birdwatchers blushing with pride, it will be discovering a scarce visitor that outshines Barbie when looking pretty in pink.
The hoopoe is one of the most recognisable birds on the planet with its outlandish raspberry yoghurt plumage accentuated by chequerboard wings and fancy crest. Such is its illustriousness, the hoopoe has appeared on more postage stamps than any other bird and the ancient Egyptians used its distinctive profile as a hieroglyph.
Many a holidaymaker to the Mediterranean has been mesmerised by sight of a hoopoe strutting around hotel gardens or flapping across an olive grove on butterfly-like wings.
Each year, a few score overshoot Iberian nesting grounds and arrive in the UK, often turning up in picture postcard villages to the delight of birders and non-birdwatchers, alike.
A myth that has developed over the years is that the best places to find hoopoes are vicarage lawns, the manicured swards perfect to probe for grubs with their long, decurved bills. Midsomer Murder script writers homed in on such bucolic scenes with the Case of the Blue-crested Hoopoe that sparked deadly rivalries among members the Midsomer-in-the-Marsh Ornithological Society.
No such need for murder 'most fowl' this spring with its deluge of hoopoe sightings the length and breadth of the British Isles.
High pressure and southerly winds over the Bay Biscay in late March fanned a mass arrival likely to number more than 200 birds, including counts of at least nine individuals on the Isles of Scilly.
Such an influx has heightened hopes that hoopoes will repeat their 2023 breeding success when three young were raised at a secret location in Leicestershire. With only 30 reported instances of nesting since the 1830s, the sight of more hoopoe fledglings will leave us all feeling in the pink …
Can you identify these songbirds in your garden?
Don't despair if International Dawn Chorus Day slipped by last week (May 4) without having a chance to immerse yourself in nature's great symphony. This annual celebration held on the first Sunday in May should be regarded as merely the introduction to a joyous season when birdwatchers rest their binoculars to become enthralled listeners.
Over coming weeks, the countryside will throb to the songs of thrushes, chats and finches declaring territories under the rising sun. Baritone blackbirds and top tenor nightingales will stand out as virtuoso performers. Yet ask any birdsong purist and it is the orchestral manoeuvres of warblers in the semi darkness that bring the dawn chorus experience to a sensory crescendo.
Spring walks through a tapestry of wetlands, woods and scrub can be accompanied by the songs of up to ten species of warbler, belying their dowdy plumages with golden voices. Some, like closely-related reed and sedge warblers, create identification challenges as they chatter away incessantly hour after hour as if on diets of fizzy sweets. Listen carefully and the repeated 'churrs' of the reed warbler help separate it from its jazzier cousin.
In damp thickets, the explosive song of the Cetti's warbler is unmistakable and is said to have inspired Mozart to write the opening bars of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Chiffchaff and willow warbler, along with common and lesser whitethroats, are species pairs found around woodland fringes that create visual identification puzzles, although their songs are strikingly different.
The chiffchaff sings its name, while the willow warbler has a sweet, descending cadence. Scrub-loving common whitethroats produce a dry, scratchy warble compared to the plain rattle of its smaller relative. Grasshopper warblers have taken rattling to a new level by producing an insect-like trill that reminds you of a fishing reel.
For me, the supreme choristers are two of the plainest members of the warbler clan. The blackcap has a thrush-like quality to its voice while the garden warbler's song is full of mimicked notes purloined during its travels between Europe and Africa.
