African Grey Woodpecker

Fascinating facts about the African Grey Woodpecker

• The African grey woodpecker nests in a tree hole, often choosing the hollow of an oil palm, where the female lays two to four eggs. It is a widespread and frequently common resident breeder across much of Sub-Saharan and equatorial Africa, occupying a very large range. Its typical habitat includes woodland, savannah with isolated trees, copses of larger trees, riverside forest and pasture, providing many suitable nesting sites.
• The African grey woodpecker entered scientific literature when the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller described a specimen collected in Senegal in 1776. He gave the bird the binomial name Picus goertae, establishing its formal taxonomic identity. The species is now placed in the genus Dendropicos, a group introduced by Alfred Malherbe in 1849, reflecting later revisions of its classification.
• The specific epithet of the African grey woodpecker preserves a local Senegalese name; the French naturalist Buffon recorded that "Goërtan" was used for the bird in Senegal. This link to the indigenous term was incorporated into the Latin binomial, honouring the regional language. The species was also illustrated in a set of plates that accompanied Brisson's work, further documenting its early recognition.
• The African grey woodpecker was once considered the same species as the eastern grey woodpecker, meaning they were treated as conspecific. Taxonomists later recognised differences and split them into separate taxa. This separation reflects the current placement of the African grey in the genus Dendropicos, while the eastern grey remains in Picidae spodocephalus. The change allows each bird to be studied under its own scientific name.
• When the African grey woodpecker vocalises it produces a loud, fast series of peet notes, described as peet-peet-peet-peet. It is a conspicuous bird that is frequently seen moving along tree trunks. In addition to singing, it regularly taps or drums on the bark, a behaviour typical of woodpeckers used to locate insects. These sounds make it easy to detect in its woodland and savannah habitats.

Sources

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• Wikipedia

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African Grey Woodpecker photographed on Feravox

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