Phoeniculus damarensis
Silhouette: Jon Hill (Photo by DickDaniels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Woodhoopoe_RWD7.jpg) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The violet wood hoopoe (Phoeniculus damarensis) is a species of bird in the family Phoeniculidae. It is found in Angola, Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania. It looks similar to the black-billed wood hoopoe but with a red beak and a green throat. It has coppery and violet mantle feathers.
The violet wood hoopoe was formally described in 1901 by the Scottish ornithologist William Robert Ogilvie-Grant under the binomial name Irrisor damarensis. The specific epithet is from Damaraland in Namibia. The violet 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.
Two subspecies are recognised: The subspecies P. d. granti has sometimes been considered as a separate species as its distribution is separated by a very large distance from that of the nominate race. The violet wood hoopoe was formerly considered to be conspecific with the green wood hoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus). It has been argued that the violet wood hoopoe should be considered as a distinct species because of its... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 5 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Violet Wood Hoopoe sighting in Etosha National Park on a given day, based on 219 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 94th most-seen of the 260 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.
May–June and September–December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Violet Wood Hoopoe in Etosha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, the lowest month. Those are among Etosha National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 75 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Violet 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.
2nd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Violet Wood Hoopoe sightings, Etosha National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Meru National Park (Kenya, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Violet Wood Hoopoe is recorded against all the birds logged in Etosha National Park (219 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
