Bennett's Woodpecker Campethera bennettii Scientific name definitions

c. 24 cm; 61–84 g. Male has red forehead, crown and nape , forehead with small grey feather bases, broad red malar stripe with scattered black feather bases; neck side spotted black; rest of head side, including superciliary area, and chin and throat white, occasionally traces of brown on ear-coverts and throat, or throat yellow-buff; upperparts and wing-coverts barred olive-brown, yellow and white, coverts usually more spotted and pale-fringed; rump and uppertail-coverts similarly barred, but in arid zones often very pale and unbarred; brown flight-feathers edged greenish, yellowish-white bars on inner webs; uppertail variably dull to bright yellow, narrower brown bars; underparts pale yellowish-white, breast often tinged golden-buff and with bold, round to elongated dark spots, spots usually more bar-like on flanks; white undertail-coverts often spotted or barred; underwing as above or paler; undertail yellowish, often tipped black; medium-length bill pointed, culmen moderately curved, narrow between nostrils, slaty-grey, paler near base; iris red, orbital skin grey; legs bluish-green to grey-green. Differs from C. nubica mainly in whiter face, less distinct patterning above. Female  differs in having white-spotted black forehead and crown, white malar with black flecks, and brown to blackish-brown colour from bill to ear-coverts and chin and throat; ear-coverts and throat darker in W of range, becoming paler to E. Juvenile has black head top, is somewhat darker and more spotted (less barred) above, more coarsely spotted below, eyes dark brown, male with blackish malar, few or no crown spots, female with white-spotted crown and at least indication of adult’s brown head markings. Race <em>capricorni</em> is slightly larger than nominate, has paler, whitish, rump and uppertail-coverts, generally deeper yellow underparts with fewer or, sometimes, no spots; female has, on average, heavier white spotting on forehead and crown and much blacker ear-coverts and throat, but some are similar to darkest-throated nominate.

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.

Well-developed mature woodland and bush country. Typically, miombo (Brachystegia) and gusu (Baikiaea) woodland; in dry Acacia woodland, mainly in taller parts. Appears to replace C. abingoni in Brachystegia woodland on sandy soils and in less diverse closed woodland e.g. in parts of Zimbabwe, although the two occur together in many other areas, especially in valley woodland. Up to 1600 m in E Africa.

Primarily ants, and termites (Isoptera) and their eggs; occasionally other insects and larvae. Rather social, regularly in pairs or family parties of c. 3–5 birds; frequently accompanies glossy-starlings (Lamprotornis) when foraging. Highly terrestrial , commonly searches grassy sites or bare ground with patches of short grass, hops clumsily; ground-feeding accounts for 70–85% of foraging effort. Arboreal feeding mostly on trunks and larger branches of trees; main techniques are gleaning, and probing in cracks.

Not globally threatened. Everywhere variable in abundance, and with patchy distribution; locally common, in some places rare; absent from large parts of general range.