Fun Cardinal Woodpecker Facts For Kids
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The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) is a member of the woodpecker family that is endemic to the continent of Africa, especially central, western, and southern Africa. Their habitat ranges over a wide range, from dense forests to bushy areas.
Half of their diet involves plants and vegetation, though they feed on small insects and tree frogs, too.
The male members and the females of the species can be separated by the color of their napes and hind crowns; the male possesses a red nape and crown, while the female possesses a dark crown and black nape.
Their feet have long claws to help them in nesting. The breeding season lasts from April-July with females laying an average of one to three eggs.
If you want to read more fascinating animal facts like this, check out lesser spotted woodpecker facts and ladder-backed woodpecker facts.
Cardinal Woodpecker Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a cardinal woodpecker?
The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) is a type of woodpecker commonly found in western, central, and southern Africa that feeds on small insects.
What class of animal does a cardinal woodpecker belong to?
The cardinal woodpecker belongs to the Aves class of the Animalia kingdom and is a member of the Picidae family.
How many cardinal woodpeckers are there in the world?
No information is available regarding the world population of the cardinal woodpecker. However, they are fairly common throughout their range and are classified as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Where does a cardinal woodpecker live?
The cardinal woodpecker is found in almost all the tropical countries situated within the continent of Africa, especially central, western, and southern Africa.
Some of the countries where this species is available are Botswana, Togo, Tanzania, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, Cameroon, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Gambia, Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Angola, Sudan, Mali, Rwanda, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Namibia, South Sudan, Guinea, Lesotho, Swaziland, Somalia, Ethiopia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, the Central African Republic, Burundi, Malawi, and Guinea-Bissau.
What is a cardinal woodpecker's habitat?
This species of woodpecker is a non-migratory bird that is found throughout a wide range of habitats, from dense forests to areas with scarce vegetation such as thorn bushes. The population of this species is almost uniform throughout its range and habitat.
Who does the cardinal woodpecker live with?
While a woodpecker usually opts for solitary life, the cardinal woodpecker usually lives in small family groups. They have been also been recorded to join small mixed flocks.
How long does a cardinal woodpecker live?
The exact lifespan or generation length of the cardinal woodpecker is not known. However, usually, the average lifespan of woodpeckers is about 4-12 years, depending on the species.
How do they reproduce?
Not much data is available on the reproduction process of the cardinal woodpecker. Most species of woodpeckers have a similar mating process.
Though some members of the woodpecker family are polygamous in nature, most of them are primarily monogamous. Woodpeckers do not have an elaborate form of courtship and the simple process begins with mating calls, drumming, and display flights.
The drumming on tree trunks acts as a way to signal any potential mating partner to a particular tree hole or to advertise territory. The birds become highly aggressive during the breeding season and males and other potential mates often display territorial behavior.
The female lays a clutch of one to three eggs and is usually laid in the morning. The breeding season is usually between April and July, with both the parents incubating the eggs for 12-14 days.
What is their conservation status?
No primary threats exist for cardinal woodpeckers. Although the exact world population of the birds is not known, the species is available throughout their wide range. From this, it can be safely assumed that their numbers are safe and are categorized as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List.
Cardinal Woodpecker Fun Facts
What do cardinal woodpeckers look like?
A cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) has the typical body shape of other woodpeckers. It belongs to the smaller range of the family of birds and has quite a colorful plumage.
While the feathers covering the underparts are white in color, the back feathers have a shade of dull olive-brown. Both the underparts, as well as, the back plumage are heavily streaked and marked with paler dots and bands and that's how they can be spotted.
The rump plumage is tawny brown. The fore-crown on the head is olive-brown in color and the white face is separated from the throat by a distinctive black malar stripe.
The legs also have white feathers and the feet contain long claws that help to hang from lower branches while nesting.
The head pattern of the cardinal woodpecker varies with sex and age as is the case with other birds of this species. The female birds possess a black nape and a dark hind crown, while the male birds have a red nape and hind crown.
The small crest is raised when the bird is excited. The birds have long pointed beaks.
How cute are they?
A cardinal woodpecker found in central, western, and southern Africa is a very cute bird with its colorful plumage and long beak. However, it is not a good idea to touch this bird as it is protected under federal laws, as well as state laws, in America and hurting one accidentally might land you in trouble with the authorities.
How do they communicate?
This African species of birds rapidly peck on the wood to create a pattern of sound called drumming. The males do this to attract potential mates to their nests or to announce their territory.
How big is a cardinal woodpecker?
The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) is a relatively small species of woodpecker. The average length of cardinal woodpeckers from bill to tail ranges from 5.5-6 in (14-15 cm).
To put things in perspective, the pileated woodpecker is the largest of all the woodpecker species and has an average length of 16-19 in (41-48 cm), which is similar to that of a crow.
How fast can a cardinal woodpecker fly?
Though no definitive information is available regarding the flight speed of a cardinal woodpecker, members of the woodpecker family, in general, have been recorded to fly at a speed of 21 mph (34 kph) when pursued by a predator.
How much does a cardinal woodpecker weigh?
A cardinal woodpecker weighs around 0.7-1 oz (20-31 g) on average, this makes them significantly lighter than a Gila woodpecker.
What are the male and female names of the species?
As is the case of all woodpecker birds species, the male and female cardinal woodpeckers do not have any sex-specific names assigned to them.
What would you call a baby cardinal woodpecker?
Like all other birds, a baby cardinal woodpecker is known as a chick.
What do they eat?
Cardinal woodpeckers are omnivorous like all other woodpecker species. More than half of their diet consists of them feeding on plants and vegetation as they forage among vines, shrubs, and in the lower branches of trees. They also have an insectivorous diet, feeding on small insects as well as tree frogs and ground ants.
Are they dangerous?
No, a cardinal woodpecker will not attack humans, not even if its nest is disturbed. It might fake an attack by flying at the human fiercely but is very unlikely to actually harm any individual.
Would they make a good pet?
It is illegal to keep a cardinal woodpecker, or for that matter any other species of woodpecker, as a pet in the United States as it is protected under both federal and state laws.
Did you know...
Like all other woodpecker species, the cardinal woodpecker has an unusually long tongue that has a bone embedded within it to extract insects from trees.
While slamming its pointed beak on tree trunks at a great speed, 20 times per second, the bird wraps its long tongue around the back of its skull and must close its eyes as its beak hits the tree or its eyeballs would pop out.
Woodpecker means birds that use strong beaks to make a hole in the wood.
Are woodpeckers and cardinals related?
A massive study and genomic analysis of nearly 200 hundred bird species by researchers of Yale University that was published in the famous Nature Journal revealed that both the woodpeckers and cardinals share a common hawk-like ancestor.
Is the woodpecker a tropical bird?
Woodpeckers are arboreal birds of wooded habitats. These birds have been recorded to reach their most comprehensive diversity in tropical rainforests of southern Africa, but are found in almost all suitable habitats including bamboo forests, woodlands, scrublands, savannahs, and even in deserts and grasslands.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our sandgrouse fun facts or Franklin gull interesting facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring pages in one of our free printable bird coloring pages.
Second image by Derek Keats.
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