Little grey woodpecker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Little grey woodpecker |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Dendropicos
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| Species: |
elachus
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The little grey woodpecker (Dendropicos elachus), also called the Sahelian woodpecker, is a type of bird in the Picidae family. This family includes all woodpeckers. You can find this small bird in countries like Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan. Even though it's not seen very often, the little grey woodpecker lives across a very large area. Its numbers seem to be stable. Because of this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature says it is a "least concern" species. This means it is not currently in danger of disappearing.
What Does It Look Like?
The little grey woodpecker is a very tiny bird. It grows to be about 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long. Its beak is quite long and wide.
The male woodpecker has a red patch on the back of its head and neck. The female does not have this red patch. Otherwise, both male and female birds look very similar. Their heads are brown with a light white stripe above their eyes, called a supercilium. They also have a thin, darker brown stripe on their cheeks, like a tiny mustache.
The upper parts of their bodies are greyish-brown with white stripes. Their wings and tail also have these stripes. A bright red patch on their rump (the area above their tail) is easy to spot when they fly. Their beak is grey, their feet are greenish-grey, and their eyes are brown. Young woodpeckers look like the adults but are a bit duller in color.
The little grey woodpecker's feathers, especially on its face, can fade quickly. This can make it look similar to the brown-backed woodpecker (Dendropicos obsoletus). However, the brown-backed woodpecker has a clearer brown and white head and plain brown feathers. It also does not have the red rump.
Where Does It Live and What Does It Eat?
We don't know a lot about the daily life of the little grey woodpecker. It usually lives in dry grasslands, called steppe, that have scattered trees. It also likes dry riverbeds, known as wadis.
This woodpecker finds its food in trees like Acacia and Balanites. It pecks and hammers the tree bark to find insects to eat.
Family Life
Little grey woodpeckers have been seen breeding between October and May in different parts of their home range. One nest was found in the branch of an Acacia tree.
