The calendar can be not only productive, Orthodox, Eastern, but also ornithological.

Every year, the Russian Bird Conservation Union chooses a bird from a number of widespread and well-known ones to be a symbol of the year, so that more people could take part in studying and protection of this type. In 2016 this honor was given to the hoopoe.

The hoopoe (lat. Upupa epops) is a small bird with a long narrow beak and a lush tuft that looks like the Mohawk. It is of unusual and contrast colors — there are dark and white stripes on the reddish-brown plumage. This is one of the brightest and most remarkable birds found in the territory of the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature State Biosphere reserve.

Male and female hoopoe are colored almost the same, only the females are a little less bright, and they do not have a pinkish tinge on their breasts. Both Russian and Latin names of this bird (Upupa epops) are clearly onomatopoeic – the song of the hoopoe is the deaf sound “OOP – OOP- OOP” or “OOD – OOD – OOD “.

The hoopoe is a migratory bird in Russia. It usually appears in late April and departs for wintering in late summer or autumn. Hoopoes also nest in Europe, Central, South and South-East Asia, in Africa and Madagascar. In the territory of the Prioksko -Terrasny Nature State Biosphere reserve the hoopoe can be seen in the floodplain forest and meadows in the southern part of the reserve and its buffer zone.