Phoeniculus purpureus
Silhouette: Jon Hill (Photo by DickDaniels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Woodhoopoe_RWD7.jpg) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The green wood hoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus) is a large, up to 44 cm (17 in) long tropical bird native to Africa. It is a member of the family Phoeniculidae, the wood hoopoes, and was formerly known as the red-billed wood hoopoe.
In 1784 the English illustrator John Frederick Miller included a hand-coloured plate of the green wood hoopoe in his Icones animalium et plantarum. He coined the binomial name Promerops purpureus and mistakenly specified the type locality as eastern India. The green wood hoopoe is now one of five species placed in the genus Phoeniculus that was introduced in 1821 by the Polish zoologist Feliks Paweł Jarocki.
Six subspecies are recognised: The green wood hoopoe... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 2 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 3 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 4 | Lomé | 🇹🇬 Togo | |
| 5 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 8 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 9 | Lilongwe | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 10 | Cotonou | 🇧🇯 Benin |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | SeaWorld San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Cape May County Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Moody Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Indianapolis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Honolulu Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Zoo Atlanta | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Oceanium | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Green Wood Hoopoe sighting in Accra on a given day, based on 275 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 14th most-seen of the 162 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Green Wood Hoopoe in Accra on a given day, against about 40% in January and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Accra's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain against 20 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Wood Hoopoe sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 11 cities where we can rate Green Wood Hoopoe sightings, Accra ranks 2nd at about 50%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Serrekunda (Gambia, about 50%).
Same order: Bucerotiformes
The closest relatives of the Green Wood Hoopoe that you can see in Accra (order Bucerotiformes, Hornbills and Hoopoes) are African Grey Hornbill (about 60%), Northern Red-billed Hornbill (about 20%) and Piping Hornbill (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Wood Hoopoe is recorded against all the birds logged in Accra (275 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
