The Eurasian Hoopoe prefers semi open habitats such as heathland, farmland, orchards, grassy lawns, where it feeds on the ground, probing with its long bill for insects. Its call is a distinctive “hoopoopoo.”
Interestingly English, Arabic and scientific names Hoopoe, Hudhud, and Upupa epops, are onomatopoeic forms: the name of the bird imitates it cry. Another example of this is the Cuckoo.
Hoopoes were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt, and were "depicted on the walls of tombs and temples.
Hoopoes were seen as a symbol of virtue in Persia. A hoopoe was a leader of the birds in the Persian book of poems The Conference of the Birds (Mantiq alTayr by Attar) and when the birds seek a king, the hoopoe points out that the Simurgh was the king of the birds.