Olive Woodpecker
Dendropicos griseocephalus
Unusual woodpecker that lacks barring, spotting, and streaking. Males have a red cap, and both sexes show a red rump that is conspicuous in flight. Varies geographically; some populations show a red patch at the center of the belly and others a completely olive belly. Found in forest and dense woodland. Restricted to middle and high elevations across much of the range, though found down to sea level in South Africa. Call is a series of loud whinnies.
Taxonomy
The olive woodpecker was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen obtained from the Cape of Good Hope area of South Africa. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Picus griseocephalus in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The olive woodpecker is now placed in the genus Dendropicos that was introduced by the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe in 1849. The generic name is from the Ancient Greek dendron meaning tree and pikos for woodpecker. The specific epithet griseocephalus combines the Medieval Latin griseus meaning "grey" and the Ancient Greek -kephalos meaning "-headed".<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Dendropicos griseocephalus
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Dendropicos
Range and habitat
The olive woodpecker is native to central, east and southern Africa, from the Ruwenzori Mountains to the Western Cape. It is found in Angola, Burundi, DRC, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The species occupies a range of wooded and forested habitats from 450–3,700 m (1,480–12,140 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Caloenas nicobarica
Spectacular ground-dwelling pigeon with long, extravagant plumes trailing down from the neck. Dark green intermixed with gray, blue, and bronzy orange, depending on the light. Tail is snow-white, but only readily visible when the bird is flushed. Generally shy, quiet, and difficult to see. Inhabits small, densely forested offshore islands from the Indian Andamans to the Solomons and New Guinea.
Rüppell's Warbler
Curruca ruppeli
Fairly large Curruca warbler. Male is distinctive with a black bib and blackish head separated by prominent white moustache. Female has a pale or slightly darker throat. Wing coverts are well-patterned with dark centers and pale fringes. Note rather long bill. Breeds in Mediterranean scrub habitats, usually on rocky mountain sides covered with dense bushes. Non-breeding habitat is likewise scrubby and dry. Song is a scratchy whistle, usually starts with a quick metallic trill. Calls are a metallic "trrrrr" or "chak."
Adelaide's Warbler
Setophaga adelaidae
A small, brightly colored inhabitant of thickets in woodlands and scrub. Feeds actively, snatching insects from leaves and twigs. It is passingly similar to the Northern Parula, but the parula has yellow-green on its back and the yellow below does not extend onto the belly as it does on Adelaide’s. Its song is series of rapidly given sweet notes that accelerate as the song progresses before sometimes slowing again towards the end. Call is a sweet “chick” with a slight squeaky quality.
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