Bearded Woodpecker
Chloropicus namaquus
A large and long-billed woodpecker with a pale-barred gray-olive belly and a bold facial pattern: the crown is black in the female and black (forecrown) and red (hindcrown) in the male. It forages solitarily or in pairs, preferring dead and decaying trunks where it can excavate for beetle larvae and other insects within savanna and riverine forest. It calls a sharp “kwip-kwip-kwip” and gives a characteristic drum that lasts about 5 seconds, beginning fast and then slowing. The similar Golden-crowned Woodpecker differs by occupying rainforest, having spotted (not barred) underparts, and having a yellow hindcrown patch in the male.
Identification
The bearded woodpecker is one of the largest woodpeckers in Africa growing to a length of about 25 cm (10 in). The head is distinctive with a black moustache, a broad black eye-stripe and black crown contrasting with a white supercilium, face, chin and throat. The male has a red hind crown which the female lacks. The mantle is black and the rest of the upper parts are yellowish-brown with narrow white barring. The tail is brown, barred white, the feathers having yellowish shafts. The underparts are grey with narrow white barring. The beak is large and greyish-black, the legs grey and the eyes red. Juveniles are similar to adults but the upper parts have a greenish tinge and more diffuse barring, and both sexes have some red colouring on the crown and nape.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Chloropicus namaquus
- Authority
- (Lichtenstein, AAH, 1793)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Chloropicus
Range and habitat
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It has a wide range of habitat types including woodland with sizeable trees, Brachystegia woodland, Euphorbia and Acacia woodland, the fringes of gallery forests and brushland. It is present from the lowlands up to altitudes of about 3,000 m (10,000 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The bearded woodpecker often forages in pairs which communicate with each other vocally, flicking their wings as they call. Each bird will spend a long time on a single tree, hammering, probing and pecking with its beak and gleaning any stray insects it encounters, before flying off to another, often distant, tree. The diet consists of insects and their larvae, spiders, caterpillars and ants. It has been known to catch geckos and small lizards. This bird often drums loudly on branches, finishing each drum-roll with four taps. The nest hole is drilled in dead wood, up to 20 m (70 ft) above the ground. A clutch averaging three eggs is laid and incubation, by both parents, lasts thirteen days. The chicks are cared for by both birds and remain in the nest for about four weeks.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Waved Albatross
Phoebastria irrorata
Large and gangly seabird that nests only in Galápagos and on Isla de la Plata (a small island near Ecuador’s central coast). When not breeding, it disperses over the eastern Pacific Ocean as far south as Chile. The only albatross likely to be seen in and near Galápagos. Adult is brown with a white head and neck and a large, yellow bill. Head and neck have a slight yellow tinge. Young birds are almost all brown and gradually develop the white head. Can be seen on land only at nesting sites, where pairs engage in elaborate courtship displays. Outside of the breeding season, it is usually only encountered far out to sea.
Chilean Flamingo
Phoenicopterus chilensis
Widespread and often numerous; found at shallow lakes and lagoons from the high Andes to Patagonian steppe and even in coastal waters. Adult is distinctive: pale pink with a salmon-pink “bustle” and grayish legs with red feet and “knees.” Immature often obviously smaller than adult, but has longer bill “hook” than the smaller and shorter-legged James’s Flamingo. Chilean Flamingo lacks the clean-cut black triangle on closed wings seen on Andean Flamingo. Far-carrying calls can suggest honking of geese.
Pacific Tuftedcheek
Pseudocolaptes johnsoni
Handsome arboreal bird restricted to wet cloud forest in the western Andes. Its conspicuous neck tufts are often tinged with buff and can be flared out if the bird is excited or agitated. Similar to Streaked Tuftedcheek, but neck markings are usually tinged buffy (not pure white) and appear more like discreet patches rather than a single, unbroken scarf. Also note its darker chestnut plumage and unstreaked back. Probes epiphytes or clumps of moss high up in large trees, and often accompanies mixed species flocks. Song is a rattle followed by a thin, descending whistle, and is often preceded by a series of sharp, metallic chip notes. Formerly considered a subspecies of Buffy Tuftedcheek.
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