The olive woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae.
Region
Eastern and Southern Africa
Typical Environment
Found patchily along the Afromontane forest belt, including evergreen and moist montane forests, forest edges, and riparian or gallery forests. It prefers mature woodland with substantial deadwood and large trunks for foraging and nesting. The species may also use forest patches within a mosaic of plantations or secondary growth if old trees are present. It is generally absent from open savanna and arid scrub away from trees.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 3200 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The olive woodpecker is a forest specialist of the Afromontane belt, where it spends much of its time quietly working trunks and large branches. Like other woodpeckers, it communicates with rapid drumming rather than elaborate song. It excavates nest cavities that are later used by many other forest species, making it an important ecosystem engineer. Males show a small red crown patch, which females lack.
Temperament
shy and unobtrusive
Flight Pattern
undulating with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or family parties, often keeping to interior and edges of forest. Monogamous pairs excavate their own nest cavities in dead or decaying wood. Both sexes incubate and feed the young, and the same territory may be reused across seasons.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are simple, including sharp pik and tchick notes, often given while foraging. A rapid drumming roll on resonant trunks serves for territorial advertisement and pair communication.
Plumage
Plain olive-green upperparts with a contrasting grey head and nape; underparts are dusky olive to brownish and fairly uniform. The throat is paler and the wings show subtle barring. Males have a small red crown or forecrown patch; females lack red on the head.
Diet
Feeds primarily on ants, termites, beetle adults and larvae, and other wood-boring insects gleaned from bark and decaying wood. It probes crevices, pecks at dead limbs, and occasionally flakes bark to extract prey. Small amounts of fruit or sap may be taken opportunistically, especially when insect prey is scarce.
Preferred Environment
Forages on trunks, snags, and large branches within evergreen and moist montane forests, as well as along forest margins and ravines. It favors sites with abundant deadwood and mature trees, sometimes venturing into adjacent plantations with suitable foraging substrates.
