Like most other starlings, the hoopoe starling was omnivorous, feeding on fruits, seeds, and insects. Its tongue—long, slender, sharp, and frayed—may have been able to move rapidly, helpful when feeding on fruit, nectar, pollen, and invertebrates. Its pelvic elements were robust and its feet and claws large, indicating that it foraged near the ground. Its jaws were strong; Morioka compared its skull to that of the hoopoe, and it may have foraged in a similar way, probing and opening holes in substrate by inserting and opening its beak.