Black-billed Woodhoopoe Phoeniculus somaliensis Scientific name definitions

33–38 cm. Blackish plumage with much iridescence, mainly violet and blue-violet. Nominate race with feathers of crown, face and nape green, fringed violet; throat feathers greenish copper, fringed violet; white bar on primaries, white subterminal patches on rectrices; iris dark brown; bill black, sometimes bright red at base; tarsi and toes bright red. Differs from P. purpureus and P. damarensis (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) in more slender and more strongly decurved bill. Sexes alike. Immature dull black, with variable amount of buff on feathers of chin and throat; bill and legs dark. Races differ slightly in plumage coloration: neglectus with crown, nape and mantle greener, back brighter violet; <em>abyssinicus</em> with crown and nape deep greenish-violet, mantle and breast greener, and bill red at base, especially on lower mandible.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Open dry thornbush and riparian woodland, woodland edge, and scattered trees along dry wadis. From near sea-level to 1500–2120 m (2 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Not known; probably sedentary, with large territory.

Arthropods, including beetles and millipedes. Forages by moving up and down trunk and branches , sometimes head downwards, probing crevices. Often in noisy groups of 4–12 birds (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), which move between trees in "follow-my-leader" fashion (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Considered to be very similar to vocalizations of P. purpureus, with song comprising a series of prolonged, harsh, chuckling "kek-kek-kek-kek" calls  that rise to a crescendo  , given by all group members on landing and in courtship, the birds throwing their bodies backwards until the head is level with the feet, then swinging back again in a see-saw motion (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Other calls appear to be undescribed (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

In N Somalia Feb–Sept, with six of the eight records in mid-May to mid-Jun, and in Ethiopia in Jan–Sept, with no obvious concentration in records (2 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Mating system not known, but group-living behaviour like that of P. purpureus suggests co-operative breeding. Nest in cavity of living or dead tree, either natural cavity or woodpecker hole, 2–4 m above ground (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); no nesting material beyond rotted wood in cavity. Clutch 3–5 eggs, average 4·0, glossy turquoise-blue or greenish to greyish, 23–26·5 mm × 18 mm (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). No further information (1 Fry, C. H., S. Keith, and E. K. Urban, Editors (1988). The Birds of Africa. Volume 3. Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Not globally threatened. No population estimates available, but apparently not rare; in Somalia, common in N & NW and less common in S; fairly common resident of open bush and riparian woodland in much of NE Kenya. Only current threat related to human activities is cutting of trees large enough to hold cavities. Present in Awash National Park (Ethiopia).