The fine-spotted woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is a widespread and frequently common resident breeder in much of west and central tropical Africa. It is a species associated with open forest, savannah and bush. This bird has a wide range and is a common species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Region
West and Central tropical Africa
Typical Environment
Occupies open forest, wooded savanna, bushy clearings, and edges of gallery woodland. It frequents areas with scattered trees, riparian strips, and fallow or lightly cultivated lands where old stumps and termite mounds are available. The species adapts well to degraded woodland mosaics near villages. It forages from ground level to mid-canopy, especially on dead limbs and snags.
Altitude Range
0–1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This small African woodpecker specializes in ants and termites, often probing old termite mounds and decaying wood with a long, sticky tongue. Males have a red crown while females show a dark, spotted crown, making sexing in the field relatively straightforward. Its drumming is weak and infrequent compared to many temperate woodpeckers, relying more on vocal calls. It readily uses wooded savanna edges and even tree-dotted farmland.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
undulating with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly or in pairs, occasionally joining mixed-species foraging parties in woodland edges. Nests in cavities excavated in dead or soft wood; both sexes participate in excavation and incubation. Clutch size is small, and adults are attentive at the nest.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives sharp, piping kiks and rattling trills, often in short series. Drumming is soft and brief, used less frequently than vocal calls.
Plumage
Olive-green upperparts densely peppered with fine pale spots; underparts buff to whitish with dark barring and spotting. Face pale with contrasting dark malar stripe and finely spotted ear-coverts.
Diet
Primarily consumes ants and termites, including adults, larvae, and pupae. Also takes beetles and other wood-boring insects found in dead limbs and stumps. Probes and pecks rather than heavy chiseling, using a long sticky tongue to extract prey from crevices and galleries.
Preferred Environment
Forages on termite mounds, fallen logs, dead branches, and trunks in open woodland and savanna. Often works along wooded edges, riparian corridors, and scattered trees in farmland.
