Red-throated Wryneck

Identification

The red-throated wryneck grows to about 19 cm (7.5 in) in length. The sexes are very similar in appearance, and cannot be distinguished in the field, but the male averages 2–3% larger than the female, has a shorter tail, and is heavier at 52–59 g (1.8–2.1 oz) against her 46–52 g (1.6–1.8 oz). It is a slim, elongated bird with a small head, fine bill, long fan-shaped tail and a body shape unlike that of a typical woodpecker.<p>The overall impression is of cryptic plumage patterned with greys, browns and black. The upperparts and head are brown, barred and mottled in dark shades, and the rump and upper tail coverts are grey with speckles of brown and black. The chin, throat and breast of the subspecies Jynx ruficollis ruficollis are red, and the lower breast and belly are white with some dark streaks; there is a cinnamon tint to the flanks and the underneath of the tail. The wings are brown above and more buff-toned below. The grey bill is long and thin, the irides are chestnut, and the legs are grey. As with all woodpeckers, the first and fourth toes point backwards and the second and third point forwards, a good arrangement for clinging to vertical surfaces. Young birds resemble adults after 20 days, but are darker and more barred above, and lightly barred below with a smaller and darker red patch.<p>The three subspecies differ in appearance, mainly in the extent of red on the breast. In Jynx ruficollis ruficollis the red extends from the chin to the chest, whereas in J. r. aequatorialis it extends further down the breast, and there is a more cinnamon tinge to the flanks. J. r. pulchricollis has a brown-barred white chin and upper throat, and its red patch is darker and confined to its lower throat and upper breast. This race also has more rufous upperparts.<p>The two wrynecks cannot be confused with any other species, but some Eurasian birds may winter within the range of red-throated wryneck. The African species, compared to its migratory cousin, differs in its usually obvious red throat, larger size, overall browner appearance and the lack of a dark streak through the eye.<p>Most woodpeckers have only one moult as soon as breeding has finished, but wrynecks have a partial moult prior to breeding, and also replace their tail feathers in a different sequence from true woodpeckers since they have no need to retain central tail feathers for support, as is required by their arboreal relatives. Details of the moult can be complex and variable, and ageing wrynecks from their plumage appearance can be challenging.<p>The call of the red-throated wryneck is a series of repeated harsh, shrill notes kweek-kwik-kwee-quee, usually slower than the call of the Eurasian wryneck. It is a far-carrying territorial call given from a prominent perch. There is also a peegh alarm call followed by a repeated harsh krok. Young in the nest make wheezing squeaks initially, later a repeated buzzing tsch. There is a quiet "click" call given as an alarm or pre-roosting. All calls are given by both sexes, but the male's kweek call is lower pitched than that of the female.<p>Wrynecks do not drum like woodpeckers, but may tap near the nest hole or on branches, apparently as a displaced aggression activity during interactions between two birds.

Taxonomy

The woodpeckers are an ancient bird family consisting of three subfamilies, the wrynecks, the piculets and the true woodpeckers, Picinae. DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis show that the wrynecks are a sister clade to other woodpeckers including the Picinae and probably diverged early from the rest of the family.<p>The wryneck subfamily Jynginae has one genus, Jynx, introduced in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. It contains two species, the Eurasian wryneck, J. torquilla, and the red-throated wryneck, J. ruficollis. The two wrynecks form a superspecies that probably separated early in their evolution from the piculets, although there has subsequently been only limited divergence between the Jynx species.<p>The red-throated wryneck was first identified by German ornithologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1830. It is also known as the rufous-necked wryneck or red-breasted wryneck.The genus name Jynx is from the Ancient Greek name for the Eurasian wryneck, ιυγξ, iunx, and ruficollis is from the Latin rufus, "rufous" and collum "neck". The English "wryneck" refers to the habit of birds in this genus of twisting and writhing their necks when agitated. It was first recorded in 1585.<p>The red-throated wryneck has three subspecies:<p>The woodpecker family appears to have diverged from other Piciformes about fifty million years ago, and a 2017 study considered that the split between Jynx and other woodpeckers occurred about 22.5 million years ago. A fossil dating from the early Miocene, more than twenty million years ago, consisting of the distal end of a tarsometatarsus had some ‘’Jynx’’-like features, but was classed as an early piculet. By the (Pliocene five million years ago) woodpeckers were similar to those now extant. Fossil wrynecks are known from Europe in the Pleistocene, between 2.6 million and 11,700 years ago.

Scientific name

Jynx ruficollis

Authority

Wagler, 1830

Order

Piciformes

Family

Picidae

Genus

Jynx

Range and habitat

The rufous-necked wryneck has a distribution confined to sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs in about 20 countries in disjunct areas ranging from Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Ethiopia in the north down to South Africa and Eswatini in the south. It is not truly migratory, although there may be local movements and post-breeding dispersal. It is a vagrant to Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe, and an occasional non-breeding visitor to Lesotho.<p>The typical habitat is open grassland with trees, particularly acacia and also miombo woodlands, but it is also found in other semi-open woodland, such as forest edges and clearing. It will use man-made habitats such as farmland, parks and gardens as long as there are trees present, which can include introduced eucalyptus and conifers.<p>It occurs at altitudes from 600 metres (2,000 ft) to 3,300 metres (10,800 ft). It is found up to 1,550 metres (5,090 ft) in South Africa and mainly between 1,400–2,500 metres (4,600–8,200 ft) in Kenya.

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: rising.

Population trend

rising