Dendropicos namaquus Bearded Woodpecker Baardspeg
Modimolle, Oct 2025
A breeding resident. Fairly common and widespread across the Waterberg, less so in the surrounding thorn savanna (63% in, 37% out; recorded in 67% of the Waterberg pentads); may occur in any woodland but favours areas with tall, well-spaced trees; usually encountered solitarily, in pairs while breeding; its presence is often given away by the mechanical drumming it makes by tapping rapidly on a dead branch, a sound that can be heard from hundreds of metres away - the loudness distinguishes their drumming from the softer drumming made by other woodpeckers. Wooden power-line poles often provide drumming and nesting sites for this species and its nest-holes are much sought-after by other hole-nesting species such as Pearl-spotted Owlet and Meyer's Parrot. Breeds in late winter.
A breeding resident. Fairly common and widespread across the Waterberg, less so in the surrounding thorn savanna (63% in, 37% out; recorded in 67% of the Waterberg pentads); may occur in any woodland but favours areas with tall, well-spaced trees; usually encountered solitarily, in pairs while breeding; its presence is often given away by the mechanical drumming it makes by tapping rapidly on a dead branch, a sound that can be heard from hundreds of metres away - the loudness distinguishes their drumming from the softer drumming made by other woodpeckers. Wooden power-line poles often provide drumming and nesting sites for this species and its nest-holes are much sought-after by other hole-nesting species such as Pearl-spotted Owlet and Meyer's Parrot. Breeds in late winter.
Modimolle, May 2020
Zondagsfontein, Jan 2018
Slypsteendrift, Mar 2018