Knysna Woodpecker

This species is distinguished from the other South African woodpeckers by its thickly spotted under-surface which is covered with black spots from the chin to the vent. Males and females differ slightly. Males have an olive-green color above with indistinct, small transverse bars and a few diamond-shaped sub-terminal spots that are a paler olive-yellow. The female Knysna woodpecker is similar to the male, but the black head is spotted with white and only the occiput is scarlet. The quills are brown, except for near the base where they are externally olive. The secondary quills are olive-brown, duller than the back, and transversely barred with a yellow-tinged white. The primaries are externally spotted with yellow, notched on the inner web with white, and the shafts are brown. The tail is olive-brown shaded with an almost green color and crossed with six bars of an almost yellow color. The tips of the feathers are a dull golden, while the shafts are golden brown. Its head is a gray-black color and all of the feathers on it are tipped with scarlet. The occipital crest (located at the base of the cranium) is completely bright scarlet in color. Its lores are yellowish and minutely spotted with black. The ear-coverts are whitish and streaked with black, while the foreparts of its cheeks are scarlet. …

The Knysna woodpecker is endemic to South Africa. It is thinly dispersed across the coastal lowlands of South Africa and extends north into southern KwaZulu-Natal and west to near Bredasdorp, Western Cape. This species is common locally, but not over its entire coastal range. The total range is less than 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi) and its total population has been estimated at 1,500–5,000 individuals, of which 1,000-3,300 are assumed to be mature birds.

Conservation status and threats. Although the Knysna woodpecker has not yet been classified as endangered, the IUCN Red List lists them as Near Threatened as of 2012. Habitat shifting and alteration are predicted to occur in the future, affecting more than 90% of the population and causing rapid decline. A range contraction in KwaZulu-Natal in the 19th century has been attributed to the clearance of coastal bush for sugar-cane farming and township development. Some conservation actions, such as increasing knowledge and understanding about this species are already underway. For example, an estimated 1,000-1,500 individuals are thought to occur in reserves with these objectives like the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve. …

The Knysna woodpecker feeds mainly on ants and ant larvae, as well as wood-boring beetles and termites, including their eggs and pupae. It forages at all levels of the tree canopy, pecking, gleaning and probing in search of prey as it works its way along branches.