Chloropicus namaquus
Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The bearded woodpecker (Chloropicus namaquus) is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It has a distinctive black and white head and brownish barred body. It is native to tropical central Africa. It has an extremely wide range and is a fairly common species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern". Some taxonomic authorities place this species in Dendropicos.
The bearded woodpecker is one of the largest woodpeckers in Africa growing to a length of about 25 cm (10 in). The head is distinctive with a black moustache, a broad black eye-stripe and black crown contrasting with a white supercilium, face, chin and throat. The male has a red hind crown which the female lacks. The mantle is black and the rest of the upper parts are yellowish-brown with narrow white barring. The tail is brown, barred white, the feathers having yellowish shafts. The underparts are grey with narrow white barring. The beak is large and greyish-black, the legs grey and the eyes red. Juveniles are similar to adults but the upper parts have a greenish tinge and more diffuse barring, and both sexes have some red colouring... Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bearded Woodpecker sighting in Ruaha National Park on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 145th most-seen of the 276 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Bearded Woodpecker in Ruaha National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May–August and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bearded Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 33
Of the 33 parks where we can rate Bearded Woodpecker sightings, Ruaha National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 20%), Tarangire National Park (Tanzania, about 20%) and Meru National Park (Kenya, about 20%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Bearded Woodpecker that you can see in Ruaha National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Nubian Woodpecker (about 40%) and Cardinal Woodpecker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bearded Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Ruaha National Park (26 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
