Green Wood Hoopoe

Green Wood Hoopoe

Phoeniculus purpureus

Silhouette: Jon Hill (Photo by DickDaniels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Woodhoopoe_RWD7.jpg) · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Pretoria

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

142 Verified sightings at Pretoria
7,881 In all 40 parks From 2019 to 2026
December Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Green Wood Hoopoe

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 →

Sounds

Song0:32

South Africa · 2026

© JJSUN · XC1072353 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:12

Ivory Coast · 2024

© Étienne Leroy · XC957583 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call1:20

Chad · 2024

© Julien Birard · XC957222 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Gonarezhou National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~60%
2 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~50%
3 Lower Zambezi National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~50%
4 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~40%
5 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~40%
6 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
7 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~40%
8 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~40%
9 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
~30%
10 Mikumi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
11 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~30%
12 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~30%
13 Gorongosa National Park 🇲🇿 Mozambique
~30%
14 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~30%
15 Hwange National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~20%
16 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
17 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~20%
18 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
19 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
20 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
21 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
22 Pilanesberg National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
23 Chobe National Park 🇧🇼 Botswana
~10%
24 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
25 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
26 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
27 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
28 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
29 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
30 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
31 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
32 Waterberg Plateau Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
<5%
33 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
34 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
35 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
36 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
37 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
38 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
39 Etosha National Park 🇳🇦 Namibia
<5%
40 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
~50%
2 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~50%
3 Harare 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~30%
4 Lomé 🇹🇬 Togo
~20%
5 Johannesburg 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
6 Pretoria 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
7 Lagos 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~20%
8 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~10%
9 Lilongwe 🇲🇼 Malawi
~10%
10 Cotonou 🇧🇯 Benin
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Disney's Animal Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 SeaWorld San Diego 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
3 San Diego Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
4 North Carolina Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
5 San Diego Zoo Safari Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
6 Bronx Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
7 Detroit Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
8 Cape May County Park & Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
9 Moody Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
10 Indianapolis Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
11 Honolulu Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Zoo Atlanta 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
13 Oceanium 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Green Wood Hoopoe in Pretoria?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green Wood Hoopoe sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 142 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Green Wood Hoopoe in Pretoria?

April, June–July and September–February

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green Wood Hoopoe in Pretoria on a given day, against about 10% in March, May and August, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Green Wood Hoopoe?

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.

Is Pretoria the best place to see a Green Wood Hoopoe?

6th of 11

Of the 11 cities where we can rate Green Wood Hoopoe sightings, Pretoria ranks 6th at about 20%. The best odds are in Serrekunda (Gambia, about 50%), Accra (Ghana, about 50%) and Harare (Zimbabwe, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Green Wood Hoopoe live in Pretoria?

Same order: Bucerotiformes

The closest relatives of the Green Wood Hoopoe that you can see in Pretoria (order Bucerotiformes, Hornbills and Hoopoes) are African Hoopoe (about 20%), African Grey Hornbill (about 20%) and Common Hoopoe (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Green Wood Hoopoe sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Green Wood Hoopoe is recorded against all the birds logged in Pretoria (142 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.

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