Bennett's Woodpecker

Bennett's Woodpecker is a resident of miombo, mopane, and other broadleaf woodland types across southern Africa. Like its close relatives, it shows spotted rather than barred underparts, with the spotting typically heavier and more contrasting than in some similar species sharing its range.

It tends to forage lower down on trunks and larger branches than many other woodpeckers in the same woodland.

• Underparts show bold, dense black spots against a buff-white ground color
• Back and wing-covert feathers are barred olive-brown and dark
• Males show a red crown and throat, while females show a duller, spotted throat and dark crown
• Flight feathers are barred dark and pale
• Tail feathers are stiffened, typical of trunk-foraging woodpeckers

Males have a red crown and red-tinged throat; females show a dark, spotted throat and a duller crown without red. Juveniles are less crisply marked below. A single molt follows breeding.

• Found across southern Africa, including miombo and mopane woodland belts
• Favors broadleaf woodland with open understory rather than dense forest
• Resident, generally sedentary within its woodland range

This species often forages lower on trunks and on fallen or dead wood than many woodpeckers, searching for ants and other invertebrates. Its calls are sharp and repeated, and drumming occurs in short bursts. Nest cavities are excavated in dead wood within its woodland habitat.