According to local resident Aizhan Atakeeva, she saw a hoopoe near the melted snowdrifts. The bird appeared active and quickly moved from one place to another when she tried to approach it. "How could it end up in the Chui region in February?" Aizhan wonders.
Ecologist Alexander Sosnovsky noted in a comment that the hoopoe is an interesting species from the order Upupiformes, characterized by its bright plumage and appearance reminiscent of tropical birds. Due to its anatomical features, some scientists classify hoopoes into a separate order, grouping them with hornbills.
According to Sosnovsky, the appearance of a hoopoe in February is unusual, as this bird leaves Kyrgyzstan at the end of August and returns only in early May. This is related to their diet: the hoopoe's beak, which is curved and soft, allows it to extract insects from crevices and under stones. When it gets colder, insects disappear, and the birds cannot find food.
Hoopoes prefer to build their nests in tree hollows and burrows; however, in Kyrgyzstan, they most often choose gaps in human structures or piles of stones for this purpose. Predators generally do not threaten hoopoes, as when threatened, these birds can release a foul-smelling droppings and a caustic substance from their uropygial gland," the ecologist added.
