Africa Wild

Super Mongoose wrote:Birds with attractive patterns and colors, mostly found in trees looking for insects hammering on the bark. They have stiffened tail feathers essential for crawling up and around the trees and parrot-like feet, two toes to the front and two to the back, found by birds that spend most of their time on branches.

The tail drew my attention from the first time I saw them
and clinging with their little feet even in an upside position.

Bearded woodpecker - male
taken in KNP right next to our campsite - I heard him and then started looking for him.

60% correct!

Bearded woodpecker - male and female in a terrible pic

Male Bearded Woodpecker, Klein Kariba, September 2013.

On these photos his long tongue shows while looking for bugs.

Klein Kariba's Bearded Woodpeckers, September 2013.

(I've seen pictures of Klein Kariba after the flood and the tree we saw them in is still standing near the waterfall.)

Notice all the other holes and scratch markds on the tree.

Bearded Woodpecker female - Pilansberg 2013

Bearded Woodpecker, Maroela Loop, KNP, August 2013

Bennett's Woodpecker - Campethera bennettii (Bennett’s Speg)

Male left and Female right.


Photos from Biodiversity Explorer,Trevor Hardaker © http://www.hardaker.co.za/

Information from: Roberts VII Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa

Identification:
The Bennett’s Woodpecker has spotted (not striped) underparts and separates it from the similar sized Golden-tailed Woodpecker. The male’s forehead and crown is crimson red, malar stripe dark red and the throat is white. The female’s throat is chestnut and so is the chin and cheeks. The forehead is black speckled with white. Juveniles have a chestnut throat and cheeks, but with black speckled forehead.

Status:
Locally a common resident and pairs remain together all year round.

Habitat:
The Bennett’s Woodpecker lives in tall deciduous broadleaved woodland, but less common in Acacia woodland and occupies riverine woodland in arid areas.

Distribution:
The Bennett’s Woodpecker is endemic and the range extend across the savanna belt from Northern Tanzania to Northern KZN. In Southern Africa the range extend from Central Namibia as far south as northern KZN and western Moz.

Food:
The Bennett’s Woodpecker feeds mainly on ants, their eggs and pupae. Termites and other insects will also be eaten and they frequently feed from the ground.

Call:
The call is a ringing “wirrit” repeated rapidly 6 to 8 times.

Breeding:
Breeding is monogamous. They excavate holes in dead tree limbs or uses old woodpecker holes.

Distribution map and for more information: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/specie ... php?id=599



More infromation on the Bennett's Woodpecker:
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/bir ... nettii.htm

More pictures on the Bennett's Woodpecker:
http://www.warwicktarboton.co.za/birdpgs/481BnWpk.html

bennett's woodpecker at shingwedzi december 2013


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Bennett's Woodpecker, Marakele NP, November 2013.

This Bennett spotted another 2 "male" in the reflections of our neighbour's car.

The same Bennett at Marakele...