Bennett's Woodpecker
Campethera bennettii
A medium-sized woodpecker with spotted rather than streaked or barred underparts. The male has unmarked white cheeks and throat, and red moustachial streaks and crown, while the female has a distinctive brown throat, cheek, and eye-stripes. Pairs and small groups avoid drier scrub, preferring mature broadleaved woodland, foraging for ants, termites and their larvae, mostly on the ground. The similar Reichenow’s Woodpecker differs from Bennett’s Woodpecker by being smaller, having a diagnostic speckled throat and less bold facial pattern.
Identification
Bennett's woodpecker is about 24 cm (9.4 in) long and weighs 61–84 g (2.2–3.0 oz). The male's forehead, crown and nape are red. The chin and throat are white. The upperparts are brown, yellow and white. The underparts are pale yellow, and there are dark spots on the breast and flanks. The eyes are red, the beak is grey, and the legs are bluish-green or grey-green. The female has a black forehead with white spots, and its ear coverts and throat are brown or blackish-brown. The juvenile bird has a black forehead and crown and darker upperparts. The subspecies capricorni is slightly larger, and its underparts have a deeper colour and fewer spots.
Taxonomy
This species was described by Andrew Smith in 1836. Two subspecies are recognised: Campethera bennettii bennettii and C. b. capricorni. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British naturalist Edward Turner Bennett. Bennett's woodpecker, the fine-spotted woodpecker, the Nubian woodpecker and the speckle-throated woodpecker form a superspecies.
- Scientific name
- Campethera bennettii
- Authority
- (Smith, A, 1836)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Campethera
Range and habitat
This woodpecker is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and it has a patchy distribution. Its habitat is woodlands and bushes, including miombo, Baikiaea, Acacia and mopane woodlands.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Bennett's woodpecker is found singly, in pairs or in family groups. It mostly forages on the ground, either bare or with short grass, and also feeds in trees. It mostly eats ants and termites, including their eggs. Its calls include chuur notes, a series of wi-wi-wi-wi, kee-kee-kee or ddrahh, ddrahh, ddray-ay, ddray-ay, and a chattering wirrit-wirrit. Breeding occurs from August to February. The woodpecker excavates or reuses holes in trees. Three eggs are laid and then incubated for 15 to 18 days.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Gray-green Bushshrike
Chlorophoneus bocagei
A medium-sized arboreal bushshrike that is dark gray or black above with a white eyebrow and white underparts, sometimes with a buffy breast. Prefers disturbed and forest edge habitats with large trees, where it forages deliberately in the foliage. Often in pairs, sometimes accompanying larger species of bushshrike. Gives a rising chatter with a descending whistle at the end, as well as other chatter notes and whistles.
Rufous-winged Woodpecker
Piculus simplex
Fairly small woodpecker, overall olive-green with bright red crown and mustache. Barred belly. Female similar to male but shows red only on nape. Both sexes have pale eye. Don’t look for rufous in the wing, it’s very subtle! Found in forests and edges, singly or in pairs.
Ochre-breasted Pipit
Anthus nattereri
Fairly distinctive for a pipit: blackish-brown above, including the wings, with bright golden feather edgings giving it a boldly streaked appearance. The chest and flanks are buff and lightly streaked. Look for the buffy-yellow eyebrow. Mostly encountered in well-preserved natural grasslands, favoring short grass areas that have regenerated after fires. Gives a series of sharp twittering notes ending with a slurred “eeeeeeeur.”
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