They climb tree trunks in the manner of a woodpecker, and when feeding on the ground they hop rather than walking like the true hoopoe.

[5] Their tails are long and strongly graduated (the central feathers are the longest), and marked conspicuously with white, as are their wings.

[5] They feed on arthropods, especially insects, which they find by probing with their bills in rotten wood and in crevices in bark.

[7] They nest in unlined tree holes, laying two to four eggs, which are blue, grey, or olive, and unmarked in most species.

[4] Hoopoes hunt for prey primarily on the ground as they use their tongue-like beaks to pick up insects on the soil or grass.