Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)

Cover image of Cardinal Woodpecker by Marna Buys – Magaliesberg Natural Area, Gauteng

Woodpeckers belong to the family PICIDAE. Members of this family are chiefly known for the characteristic ‘woodpecking’ behaviour that serves foraging, communication through drumming, and nest excavation. They have straight, strong bills that are reinforced at the base to cushion the brain, a stiff-pointed tail, and most possess zygodactyl toes. The tongue wraps around the rear of the skull and is anchored in one of the eye sockets or nostrils. The colours of many species are based on olive and brown, and some are pied, while others are boldly patterned in black, white, and red. Many have a crest or tufted feathers on their crowns. Woodpeckers have a mostly cosmopolitan distribution, although they are absent from Australasia, Madagascar, and Antarctica. They have diversified into every treed habitat on Earth, and most species live in forested or woodland habitats, although a few species have adapted to largely treeless environments. The family comprises 36 genera and 236 species. 10 species are known from southern Africa.

Identification

The Cardinal Woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker species in southern Africa, reaching a maximum length of 16cm and weighing up to 30 grams.

Cardinal Woodpeckers are sexually dimorphic. The sexes differ in their head markings, and males are slightly larger than females, with longer wings and bills.

In adult males, the forehead to mid-crown is brown, and the hind crown and nape are red. A blackish-brown malar stripe extends from the base of the bill to the sides of the neck. The rest of the facial area and throat is white to greyish-white, sparsely and finely streaked dark brown. The upper parts are olive green with alternating bands of blackish brown and white barring. The tail is brown with yellowish barring and golden yellow feather shafts. The underparts are greyish-white with heavy brownish-black streaking. The bill is black and the tongue is long with a barbed tip. The eyes are dark reddish-brown and the legs and feet are greyish black.

Adult females resemble the males, but have a black hind crown and nape. Juveniles are duller and greyer than adults.

The Cardinal Woodpecker is sometimes confused with the Golden-tailed Woodpecker (Campethera abingoni), which is the only other woodpecker in the region with streaked underparts. The Cardinal Woodpecker is much smaller and has a conspicuously barred (not spotted) back.

Status and Distribution

The Cardinal Woodpecker is common throughout its range. It is confined to sub-Saharan Africa, from Gambia and Sudan down to South Africa. It is the most widespread woodpecker of the African savannas. The Cardinal Woodpecker is found throughout most of southern Africa and is only absent from treeless regions.

The Cardinal Woodpecker is not threatened.

Habitat

The Cardinal Woodpecker frequents any woodland, including thornveld, broad-leaved woodland and savanna, as well as galleries of trees in otherwise treeless shrubland or grassland. It avoids the interior of evergreen forests and monocultures of planted timber, but is found in stands of alien wattles (Acacia spp) and willows (Salix spp). It also inhabits gardens and exotic trees around farmsteads

Behaviour

Resident, sedentary. Usually in pairs, less often solitary; seldom in family groups except immediately after breeding. Pairs remain together and are territorial year-round. Presence usually given away by tapping sound of foraging bird, or by call. Forages in thin, mainly dead branches and stems of trees and shrubs, occasionally on maize stems, often along pencil-thin twigs that are not used by other woodpeckers. Often joins mixed-species foraging flocks, in which it may occur alongside other woodpeckers. Hops out of view behind a branch in response to danger. In territorial disputes, rivals call frequently, sway heads from side to side, raise crest feathers, flick wings open and closed, and pursue each other. At night, roosts solitarily in a hole in a tree, favouring holes with much larger entrances than nesting holes. Roost sites reused nightly; 1 in use for 10 yr. Flight undulating.

Agile and dexterous while foraging, hanging under branches, often turning to peck open a site from different angles; seldom uses tail as support. Pecks open cavities and uses barbed tongue to extract larvae and pupae of beetles (especially Cerambycidae, Buprestidae) and other insects, incl 8.5 g first instar larvae of Mopane Emperor Moth Imbrasia belina. Some prey (incl ants) gleaned from bark; often takes spiders. Occasionally hawks termites aerially and eats fruit of Mahobohobo Uapaca kirkiana; breaks into seed pods of Large-fruit Bushwillow Combretum zeyheri to feed on wasp larvae.

Monogamous; solitary nester. When courtship calling, male flies with exaggerated, dipping flight, followed by female.

The nest is a hole excavated by both sexes, taking 13-21 d to complete. Usually in underside of a dead, sloping stem, ca 2 m (1-4 m) above ground. Occasionally in Agave inflorescences and wooden fence posts. Cavity 100-250 mm deep, with oval-shaped (long axis vertical) entrance 44 x 37 mm; nest holes seldom reused. Eggs are laid from Jul-Dec (peak Aug-Oct); occasionally in other months.

1 to 3 eggs are laid per clutch on a bed of dry wood chips, at 1 d intervals. Oval. Glossy white, unmarked. Incubation starts at clutch completion. Period 12-13 d; by both sexes.

Eggshells and unhatched eggs not removed. Newly hatched young naked and blind; eyes open at 8 d; brooded and fed by both ads. Nestling period ca 27 days. Juvs disperse within 1-2 mo of fledging.

Single-brooded. Parasitised by honeyguides, incl Lesser Honeyguide and Scaly-throated Honeyguide.

Further Resources

This species text is adapted from the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Christopher Willis, Colin Summersgill, Karis Daniel, Ryan Tippett, and Sybrand Venter is acknowledged.

Other common names: Kardinaalspeg (Afrikaans); iNqondaqonda (Zulu); Isinqolamthi (Xhosa); Pic cardinal (French); Kardinalspecht (German); Kardinaalspecht (Dutch); Pica-pau-cardeal (Portuguese)

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM. 2026. Cardinal Woodpecker Dendropicos fuscescens. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2026/07/17/cardinal-woodpecker-dendropicos-fuscescens/

Bird identification, birding