Abyssinian Woodpecker Dendropicos abyssinicus Scientific name definitions

c. 16 cm; 23–26 g. Male has brown forehead and forecrown, red hindcrown and nape, brown band through ear-coverts to neck side, broad brown malar stripe; rest of face white, chin and throat streaked brown; greenish-brown mantle, back, scapulars and inner wing-coverts with broad yellowish-golden tips, occasionally some reddish-green tips, brown bases, appearing quite mottled when worn; red rump and uppertail-coverts; brown outer wing-coverts broadly tipped white; dark brown flight-feathers edged yellowish, barred white, bars broadest but duller on tertials; uppertail brown, narrowly barred white; underparts white, tinged yellow, streaked blackish-brown, streaks broadest on breast and flanks; underwing-coverts off-white, barred and streaked brown; undertail yellowish-brown, obscurely pale-barred; longish bill fairly broad, dark subspecies, paler towards base; iris brown to reddish; legs lead-subspecies. Female has brown hindcrown merging into dark nape . Juvenile greener, less golden above, rump paler red, whiter and heavily streaked below, indication of barring on belly, both sexes with red crown, slightly smaller on female, black nape.

May be close to the Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens). Monotypic.

Ethiopian Highlands from upper Anseber River in Eritrea east to Harar region and south to Alata.

Mostly juniper (Juniperus) woods and Hagenia forest, also areas of Euphorbia, mostly between 1,600 m and 3,000 m, occasionally higher; has been found also in wooded savanna, including at slightly lower elevations. Largely separated by altitude from Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens).

Resident.

Diet not recorded. Forages on trees , by probing into mosses.

Not recorded.

Season probably December –May. Nest excavated in tree. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Uncommon. Occurs in Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. A little-known species; research is required to determine its ecology and breeding biology. Has probably suffered some contraction of its range in recent decades as a result of habitat destruction, as increasingly large areas of native woodland have been converted to eucalyptus (Eucalyptus) plantations. This species’ conservation status possibly merits reassessment; research and monitoring desirable, but very difficult in the region because of nature of terrain and unstable political situation.