About the Melancholy Woodpecker
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.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The melancholy woodpecker is 17–18 cm (6.7–7.1 in) long. The crown is olive-brown, and the nape is red in the male and blackish in the female. The face is white and has an olive-brown malar, dusky ear coverts and a white supercilium. The chin and throat are white and often have dark streaks or spots. The upperparts are bronzy-green. The flight feathers are brown, with greenish-bronze edges. The tail is black above and grey-black below. The underparts are greenish-yellow, with broad brown streaks. The beak is greyish, the legs are olive or grey, and the iris is chesnut.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in November · a winter visitor species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Speckle-breasted WoodpeckerDendropicos poecilolaemusThe speckle-breasted woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae, which is native to sub-Saharan Africa.
Elliot's WoodpeckerDendropicos elliotiiElliot's woodpecker is a medium-sized species growing to a length of between 20 and 22 cm (8 and 9 in).
Abyssinian WoodpeckerDendropicos abyssinicusThe Abyssinian woodpecker is a very small woodpecker with a relatively long and broad bill.
Learn the Melancholy Woodpecker for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.