Family Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Least Concern
Grey Woodpecker (Dendropicos goertae)
Taxonomy
French: Pic goertan German: Graubrustspecht Spanish: Pito gris occidental
Other common names:
African Grey Woodpecker
Taxonomy:
Picus Goertae
Statius Müller
, 1776,Senegal
.
Subspecies and Distribution
D. g. koenigi
(Neumann, 1903) – Sahel zone from EC Mali E to W & S Sudan.
D. g. goertae
(Statius Müller, 1776) – SW Mauritania and Senegambia E to South Sudan and W & C Kenya, and S to NE DRCongo, Rwanda and NW Tanzania.
D. g. abessinicus
(Reichenow, 1900) – E Sudan, Eritrea and N & W Ethiopia.
D. g. meridionalis
Louette & Prigogine, 1982 – S Gabon to NW Angola (Cabinda, possibly S to Malanje), and SC DRCongo.
Descriptive notes
c. 20 cm; 40·5–52·5 g. Male has grey forehead and forecrown, red hindcrown and nape sometimes with grey feather bases showing on hindcrown; rest of... read more
Voice
Series of 20–30 “wik” notes as long-distance call; irregular series of “... read more
Habitat
Inhabits woodland, wooded grassland and pasture, riverine woodland, thickets with larger trees,... read more
Food and feeding
Ants, termites (Isoptera), beetle larvae, other insects; also observed hunting crabs among aerial roots of mangroves, and taking nuts of... read more
Breeding
Dec–Jun in W of range, from Oct in Sierra Leone, Jan–Mar in Nigeria, Dec–Feb and Jul–Sept in Zaire, and Feb–... read more
Movements
Mostly resident. Some movement in non-breeding season; recorded in Mauritania at Atar, well N of... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Fairly common to common, and widespread. Commonest woodpecker in Senegambia; common in Sierra Leone. Uncommon in Liberia, estimated population 2000... read more
Often placed with D. spodocephalus and D. griseocephalus in a separate genus Mesopicos, sometimes also including D. elliotii (with D. johnstoni)#R; hybridizes with the first two where ranges meet; often treated as conspecific with D. spodocephalus (which see). Races intergrade. Proposed races agmen (tree-savanna belt from Gambia S to Liberia and across to EC Sudan), centralis (savanna from Cameroon to W South Sudan and W Kenya) and oreites (highlands of C Cameroon) all considered inseparable from nominate. Four subspecies currently recognized.