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The Hoopoe is a widespread species in Hungary with the strongest populations on the Great plains. The fact that in 2015 it became ‛The Bird of the Year' in Hungary offers the possibility to summarise the information about the distribution, population size, dispersion, migration as well as the nature conservation status of the Hoopoe population breeding in Hungary. In the period of 1999-2014 the number of breeding pairs and trend of population level was estimated based on the Common Bird Census database. The population size was estimated as 13,500-17,500 pairs with a stable trend (slope=−1.3%, SE=2.5%) over 1999-2014. There is very limited information on migration from bird ringing, only 8 recoveries between 1928-1963 indicate, that the Hungarian population is migrating on a south-southeast direction in autumn, wintering in the eastern parts of the Sahel, possibly in Chad and Sudan and migrates back in spring following a loop migration pattern further to the east. The main conservation issues are agricultural intensification impacting feeding possibilities, lack of nesting cavities and hunting during migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines common farmland bird populations in Hungary in relation to the European Union (EU) accession . It notes that EU accession may result in the intensification of arable crop cultivation. Result suggests that land consolidation will have the most serious negative impact on common farmland bird populations because small scale farming systems hold significantly larger numbers of seven common farmland bird species such as White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus and Stonechat Saicola torquatus. Researchers also found that opportunities may be presented by compulsory setaside for the compensation of the negative effects should biodiversity considerations are integrated into the national rules.