The melancholy woodpecker is a species of woodpecker. It is found in West Africa from Sierra Leone east to Nigeria, living in forests, forest edges, clearings and woodlands. It is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the Gabon woodpecker. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as a least-concern species.
Region
West Africa
Typical Environment
Occurs from Sierra Leone and Liberia east through Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to Nigeria, primarily in lowland rainforest, forest edges, clearings, and moist woodlands. It readily uses secondary growth and gallery forests, and can persist in fragmented landscapes where mature trees remain. Birds forage from understory trunks to mid‑canopy branches, often on deadwood and larger boughs. It is typically absent from open savannas lacking substantial tree cover.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Despite its somber name, the melancholy woodpecker is an active, canopy‑foraging species that thrives along forest edges and in secondary woodland. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the Gabon woodpecker, but West African populations are often recognized as distinct. The IUCN currently lists it as Least Concern due to its wide range, though ongoing forest loss can locally depress numbers.
In Kakum National Park, Ghana
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
undulating flight with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually encountered singly or in pairs, maintaining territories by drumming and display flights. Pairs excavate nest cavities in dead or decaying trunks and raise a single brood. They join mixed-species flocks occasionally while foraging in the canopy.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are soft, sharp pik or chik notes given intermittently. Territorial drumming is a rapid, short burst on resonant deadwood, often more conspicuous than its calls.
Plumage
Olive‑green to brownish‑olive upperparts with fine pale barring, and whitish underparts heavily streaked or barred dark. The rump often shows a yellowish tinge. Males have a red crown and nape; females lack red on the crown. Face shows pale streaking with a subtle moustachial area and contrasting darker ear coverts.
Diet
Primarily consumes wood‑boring beetle larvae, ants, termites, and other insects gleaned or extracted from bark and deadwood. It probes crevices, pecks at soft, decayed timber, and occasionally hawks small insects in short sallies. Opportunistically takes other arthropods and may sample small amounts of fruit when available.
Preferred Environment
Forages on trunks, larger branches, and snags in mature and secondary forest, as well as along edges and clearings. Frequently uses mid‑story to canopy levels where dead limbs are abundant.
