Hoopoe

Hoopoe reaches sexual maturity at the age of one year. Monogamy. In Russia, the birds arrive to the breeding grounds rather early - in March and April, when still only appear the first thawed. Immediately upon arrival males occupied territories for reproduction and are very active - a loud shout, emitting repetitive thud «pack-pack-pack ..» and thus podzyvaya females. In some vocalization alone is worth Madagascar subspecies - his voice reminds raskatistoe a purr. During this period, the most frequent and loud screaming birds every morning and night, rarely during the day. During courtship the male and female fly slowly one after another, marking a place for a future slot. Often the same area is used for several years. Typically, hoopoe multiply the individual pairs, but in the case of other neighborhood Udodov between males are frequent fights at the border areas, reminiscent of the fighting cocks. The nest is arranged in a quiet place - hollow tree, rocky cleft, deepening to a cliff ledge, sometimes in the wall of stone or clay structure. If near a suitable shelter is not available, eggs may be delayed on the ground among the dry remains of an animal - for example, the famous German and Russian scientist Peter Pallas described the hoopoe's nest in the chest of human skeletal. Lining or non-existent, or contains only a few travinok, feathers and pieces of cow manure. Hollow may also contain a rotten wood rot. Unlike the vast majority of bird hoopoe never remove litter from the nest, which gradually accumulates around. In addition, during nasizhivaniya and birds feeding nestlings produced oily liquid to be disbursed from the oil gland and has a sharp unpleasant smell. This adaptation helps the birds avoid small terrestrial predators, but for the reputation of a person gives a «dirty birds».