Have you ever seen a bird like this in your back garden? It has an orange-brown coloured body, black and white stripes and, when it flies, its rounded wings and erratic flight give it the appearance of a large butterfly!

This is a hoopoe. The unusual name comes from the bird's song, a series of 'hoop-hoop' calls.

Each spring, hoopoes migrate from Africa to their summer breeding grounds in Europe. Some birds occasionally fly off course and into England making them rare, accidental visitors. Only about 100 hoopoes land in England each year.

The bird pictured here was found dead in a garden in Stratford-on-Avon. Hoopoes have also been seen in Coventry, but most sightings are nearer to the coast.

Fancy a chance at spotting a hoopoe? Keep an eye out each spring in parks, gardens and open spaces in southern England and East Anglia. They feed on the ground using their long, curved bills to probe the soil for invertebrates.