Woodhoopoe
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Phoeniculidae Bonaparte, 1831
Genera: Phoeniculus, Rhinopomastus

[Photo] Green Wood Hoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus, South Africa. Source: Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/2190715440/). Date: 12 January 2007. Author: Martin Heigan (www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/). "A Red-billed Woodhoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus) woodpecker in my backyard."

The Woodhoopoes are a small African family of near passerine birds. These tropical species are not migratory.

The woodhoopoes are related to the kingfishers, rollers and hoopoe. They most resemble the last species with their long curved bills, used for probing for insects, and short rounded wings.

However, they differ in that they have metallic plumage, often blue, green or purple, and lack an erectile crest. They are more gregarious than the Hoopoe, and can often be seen in small groups.

These are birds of open African woodland, mainly arboreal in their habits. They are hole-nesters, laying two or three eggs.

There are eight species in two genera:

Genus Phoeniculus
- Green Wood Hoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus
- Violet Woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus damarensis
- Black-billed Woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus somaliensis
- White-headed Woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus bollei
- Forest Woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus castaneiceps

Genus Rhinopomastus
- Black Scimitar-bill, Rhinopomastus aterrimus
- Common Scimitar-bill, Rhinopomastus cyanomelas
- Abyssinian Scimitar-bill, Rhinopomastus minor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodhoopoe

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