Picid in Focus: Andaman Woodpecker female

Female Andaman Woodpecker. Male has red malar stripe and red fore-crown. Photo taken by Simon Walkley, Havelock. Andaman Islands, India, November 2011.  

Picid in Focus: Buff-spotted Woodpecker male

Male Buff-spotted Woodpecker Campethera nivosa. Note red nape, which females lack. At 14-16cm long this is a small member of the genus. Occurs in central-western Africa. Photo taken in Lake Mburo NP, Uganda, March 2012, Gerard Gorman. 

Genus: Dendropicos

This genus is currently composed of 15 (taxonomy in dispute) small to medium sized, typically green and grey coloured species. All are found in woodlands and forests in Africa. Sexual dimorphism is shown in males having red or yellow on the crown, which females lack. This male Grey Woodpecker Dendropicos goertae was photographed in Uganda in March 2012, Gerard Gorman. 

Picid in Focus: Nubian Woodpecker

Male Nubian Woodpecker Campethera nubica. A locally common picid in wooded savanna and bush country in east-central Africa. Note the all-red crown and malar. Female has fore-crown and malar black flecked with white. Photo by Gerard Gorman, Uganda, March 2012.

Picid in Focus: Bearded Woodpecker

Male Bearded Woodpecker Dendropicos namaquus. Note the red crown which the female lacks. This is one of the largest African woodpeckers. Photo taken at Lake Mburo NP, Uganda, March 2012, by Gerard Gorman.

Picid in Focus: Chilean Flicker

Chilean Flicker Colaptes pitius. This rather terrestrial woodpecker (though it does nest and forage in trees) is restricted to south-west South America, from central Chile to Patagonia in Argentina. Photo taken by Pete Ferrera in southern Chile, 2012.