We used to have hundred of hoopoe birds here in the southern regions of India when I was a kid. Sadly I haven't seen a single one in the last couple of decades.
These birds used to make huge holes in the neem trees that abound here. We used to wrongly call them woodpeckers. It's only later I came to know that these were hoopoe birds.
So happy to see them here.
It all depends on habitat my friend. Mankind is destroying bird habitats all over the world, so the birds simply migrate to other countries where they can find food and places to nest.
We regularly get new species of birds that come to settle here.
Glad that you eventually found out their real identities.
!Blessings and have some !PIZZA