Ground woodpecker | |
---|---|
In South Africa | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Piciformes |
Family: | Picidae |
Genus: | Geocolaptes Swainson, 1832 |
Species: | G. olivaceus |
Binomial name | |
Geocolaptes olivaceus (Gmelin, 1788) | |
The ground woodpecker (Geocolaptes olivaceus) is one of only three ground-dwelling woodpeckers in the world (the others are the Andean and campo flickers). It inhabits rather barren, steep, boulder-strewn slopes in relatively cool hilly and mountainous areas of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini and has yet to be recorded outside of Southern Africa. It is found in a broad swath running from southwest to northeast, from the Cape Peninsula and Namaqualand to Mpumalanga. [1] It is closely related to the woodpeckers of the genus Campethera , some of which also employ terrestrial foraging strategies. [2]
The ground woodpecker was described in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham from a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He used the English name "Crimson woodpecker" but did not introduce a Latin name. [3] When the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin updated Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae for the 13th edition in 1788 he included a short description of the ground woodpecker, cited Latham's work and coined the binomial name Picus olivaceus. [4] The ground woodpecker is now placed in the genus Geocolaptes that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1832 to accommodate the ground woodpecker. [5] [6] The generic name Geocolaptes combines the Classical Greek geō meaning "ground" with the genus name Colaptes that had been introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825. Colaptes comes from the Ancient Greek kolaptēs meaning "chiseller". The specific epithet olivaceus is the Modern Latin for olive-green. [7] The ground woodpecker in monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [8]
The ground woodpecker is probably the largest woodpecker in Africa, measuring 22 to 30 cm (8.7 to 11.8 in) in length and weighing around 120 g (4.2 oz) on average. The upper parts are greyish-brown with pale spotting, and the rump is red and more visible in flight. The upper sides of wings and tail are brown barred with white. The underparts are buff, flushed with pink or red. The underside of the tail is pale brown, barred with paler colour. The beak is black, long and slender, the irises pink or yellow and the legs grey. Males and females are broadly similar, but the female has slightly less red and pink than the male. The juvenile is similar to the female. [9] [10] [11]
It usually lives in pairs or small parties and is best located by its loud, raucous two-note call (chik-ree, chik-ree) with head-swinging. It often peers over or around rocks at intruders. [9]
The diet of the ground woodpecker consists mainly of ants with their eggs, larvae and pupae. These are extracted from dead wood or between rocks, using its long, sticky tongue. It also feeds on the ground, flicking away dead leaves in a manner reminiscent of flickers. Unusually for a woodpecker, one bird does sentry duty from a high point, looking for aerial predators, and this bird is relieved every 10 minutes or so by another member of the group. [9]
It breeds in spring and early summer (August to November), nesting is in a tunnel excavated in the vertical bank of a stream or watercourse. Usually three glossy white eggs are laid in a chamber at the end of the tunnel. [9]
The Cape teal also Cape wigeon or Cape widgeon is a 44–46 cm long dabbling duck of open wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa.
The northern flicker or common flicker is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls. It is the state bird of Alabama.
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The stone partridge is a bird of the New World quail family. This largely brown bird, which commonly holds its tail raised, is found in scrubland and lightly wooded habitats, often near rocks, from Kenya and Ethiopia to Gambia.
The capped wheatear is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is widely distributed over southern Africa. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.
The cut-throat finch is a common species of estrildid finch found throughout Africa; it is also known as the bearded finch, the ribbon finch, the cut throat, and the weaver finch.
The red-throated parrotfinch is a species of estrildid finch found in New Caledonia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km2.
The snowy sheathbill, also known as the greater sheathbill, pale-faced sheathbill, and paddy, is one of two species of sheathbill. It is usually found on the ground. It is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent.
The ʻōmaʻo, also called the Hawaiian thrush, is an endemic species of robin-like bird found only on the island of Hawaii. ʻŌmaʻo are closely related to the other endemic thrushes of the Hawaiian Islands, the kāmaʻo, the olomaʻo, and the puaiohi. ʻŌmaʻo are found primarily in rainforests in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Big Island. Population estimates approximate 170,000 birds, making it the most common of the Hawaiian thrushes. It appears to have a stable population, but because the entire population exists on a small range and is endemic to a single island, it is considered vulnerable.
The red-and-black grosbeak is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The white-chested puffbird is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is one of seven species in the genus Malacoptila. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
The grey-green fruit dove is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Society Islands in French Polynesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
The grey tit is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae. It is found in Lesotho and South Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.
The green-barred woodpecker or green-barred flicker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.