home   about   search

biodiversity explorer

the web of life in southern Africa

Campethera scriptoricauda (Speckle-throated woodpecker) 

Tanzaniese speg [Afrikaans]; Pic de Reichenow [French]; Schriftschwanzspecht [German]; Pica-pau da Tanzânia [Portuguese]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Tetrapoda (four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Reptilia (reptiles) > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria > Dinosauria (dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) > Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves (birds) > Order: Piciformes > Family: Picidae

Campethera scriptoricauda (Speckle-throated woodpecker)   

Speckle-throated woodpecker, Tanzania. [photo Nik Borrows ©]

 

Distribution and habitat

Occurs from Tanzania and Malawi to northern and central Mozambique, generally preferring mature miombo (Brachystegia) woodland and coastal thorn scrub.

Distribution of Speckle-throated woodpecker in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common).

Movements and migrations

Likely to be resident and sedentary.

Food 

The following food items have been recorded in its diet:

Breeding

  • Little known, with the following information originating from Malawi.
  • The nest is a hole excavated in a tree or palm stem, where it lays three eggs in the period from about October-November.

Threats

Not threatened.

References

  • Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.