Scaly-throated Honeyguide Indicator variegatus Scientific name definitions

c. 18–19 cm; 34–55 g, rarely up to 61 g. Both sexes green and olive with black-tipped white outer tail pattern, very short outermost tail feathers; streaky crown and face, and rather variable scaly to streaky olive-grey and white throat and breast. Distinguished from I. maculatus by less green upperparts, paler underparts less spotted  . Immature has spotted crown, criss-cross pattern of streaks, bars ­below, and nearly all-white outer tail; male becomes black-gaped, female pink-gaped with some dusky grey that increases in older fe­males.

S Ethiopia and South Sudan to S Somalia, S through E Africa (W to E Rwanda and E Burundi), and from C Angola E to E DRCongo and W Tanzania, S to Zambia, E Zimbabwe and E South Africa (Eastern Cape).

Diverse woodland , forest patches, riverine woods, thickets, overgrown plantations, bamboo, juniper woods, also dense streamside thickets in some dry areas. Mostly unobtrusive except at beeswax sources and where singing. Usually below c. 2200 m, rarely to 3350 m.

Sedentary, but regularly moves up to 10 km, even 20 km, when seeking food; di­sperses to 10 km or more.

Beeswax eaten all year; takes bee larvae and eggs, also termites, flies, caterpillars, ants, beetles, aphids, sometimes other arthropods; nestlings eat foods of host, including fruits. Follows humans in woods, inquisitive, explores cavities; gleans along bark and limbs, visits flowers for insects; also hawks insects. Aggressive at bees’ nests; females dominant over males, immatures over adults. Clasps wax between legs while eating, can carry off comb weighing up to 11 g. Drinks , bathes. Sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks.

Song  a trill 0·6–4 seconds long, ­generally a bit slower than in I. maculatus, in quality churring or like policeman’s whistle, soft or loud, faster or slower, occasionally croaky; alternate song 3–8 whistled pipes, during territory establishment or in interactions with other males; song-like “trill-pyew” a common, aggressive, often wavering call; females interact using aggressive chattering with gaping, in several variations; also a post-copulatory, high, whistled series; nestlings give chattery “chess” calls, yelps, and wailing calls. Wing-rustling sounds in encounters, and in “searching” flights over prospective feeding sites, humans, and other honeyguides; also “wup-wup-” sounds in display-flight.

Lays in diverse seasons in tropics, mainly Aug–Feb in S Africa. Male sings from trees or bushes in territory, territory sometimes traditional, held for up to 8 years, or sometimes shifting, even within a season; in tropics sings all year, even in moult; female may breed mainly with 1 male, or visit and copulate with several; winnowing flight by male can precede or follow copulation. Known hosts include 6 species of woodpecker (Campethera abingoni, C. nubica, Dendropicos fuscescens, D. griseocephalus, D. goertae and D. namaquus), Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus bilineatus), Whyte’s Barbet (Stactolaema whytii), Black-collared Barbet (Lybius torquatus), probably also other woodpeckers and barbets, possibly also a swift (Apus horus) and a petronia (Gymnoris superciliaris). Female lays eggs in series of 3–5, several series in clutch, 1 egg in each nest; incubation period c. 18 days; hatchling has bill hooks, kills host’s young or destroys eggs; nestling period c. 28 days; fledgling does not return to nest, may beg indiscriminately from passing woodpeckers, and from adults of its own species; independent in 1–4 days or so. Male first breeds at 3 or more years, occasionally 2, female at 2 years. Longevity 10 or more years.

Not globally threatened. Relatively common, and widespread. Uncommon in Somalia; generally uncommon in Kenya and Tanzania. Fairly common in Ngoye Forest, South Africa, perhaps in part due to strong local population of Green Barbet (Cryptolybia olivacea), which it parasitizes. Known to occur in Impenetrable (Bwindi) Forest National Park, Uganda, in Nyungwe Forest Reserve, Rwanda, and in Mkuzi Reserve, South Africa. No known threats identified.