Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Campethera abingoni
A medium-sized woodpecker with a streaky breast and throat. Golden coloration in the tail is shared with many of Africa’s woodpeckers, and is thus a poor identification feature. The male has a reddish crown and moustache; the female has a faint moustache and dark crown marked red only toward the back of the head. Pairs are resident in savanna, woodland, and forest edge, exploring large branches in the lower and middle canopy while foraging for insects. Often joins flocks. A nasal shrieking “wheeaa-aaaa” call often betrays its presence. Mombasa Woodpecker is smaller than Golden-tailed Woodpecker, with a plainer white throat and a distinctive call.
Identification
The combination of barred, greenish upper part plumage, and streaked underparts is distinctive. Their golden-olive tails do not differ markedly from those of several related or sympatric woodpecker species, but their single, strident call-note is characteristic.<p>It measures 20 to 21 cm from bill tip to tail tip. The southern races weigh about 70 g, but the northern race C. a. chrysura, only about 55 g. Males are on average larger and heavier than females. The sexes are best distinguished by their head markings, as the red and brown fore-crowns of males differ unmistakably from those of females that are black and spotted white. The malar stripes of males are red and that of females mottled black and white. The iris is usually dark red but variable, the mandibles slate grey, and the legs and feet greenish-olive. Juveniles are heavily streaked on the throat and breast and barred on the belly. They and have mottled malar stripes, and a brown to brownish-grey iris.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Campethera abingoni
- Authority
- (Smith, A, 1836)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Campethera
Range and habitat
It is present in coastal forest, miombo, mopane and acacia woodlands. It shows a preference for riparian woodland, particularly in the dryer parts of southern Africa. It may intensively forage small areas in the lower to middle strata of trees. It establishes fairly large territories of 10 to 15 ha, and can cover some distance between foraging sites. Very widespread in woodlands or forest south of the equator, and very localized north of it. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Piping Bellbird
Ornorectes cristatus
A fairly large bird of foothill and adjacent lowland forest understory. Brown upperparts, rufous underparts, head feathers coming to a bushy crest at the back, and a thick black bill. Similar to Rusty Pitohui, but Piping Bellbird has a crest and lacks the pale eye. Very shy and heard much more often than seen. Incessantly repeated, monotonous, medium-pitch piping note.
Cinnamon-bellied Imperial-Pigeon
Ducula basilica
A distinctive large pigeon with a pale pink head and neck, a deep cinnamon belly, dark greenish upperparts and tail, and a broad pale band at the tail tip. Singles to small groups inhabit forest and forest edge, including degraded forest and plantations. Perches high, but rarely in the open. Overlaps with Spectacled Imperial-Pigeon, but differs in its pink head, its lack of a bold eye-ring, its cinnamon belly, and its pale tail band. Gives a signature deep two-note growl, “ku-woooo,” with a curt, rising first note and a longer second note.
Parker's Spinetail
Cranioleuca vulpecula
Rusty above with pale brown underparts, a whitish throat, and a long spiky tail. Occurs on shrubby river islands favoring early successional vegetation. Song is an accelerating and descending series of “tew” notes, ending in a trill. The rather similar Rusty-backed Spinetail has buffy underparts, a less distinct eyebrow, and a different song, and occurs in seasonally flooded forests and gallery forests.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.