Woodpecker, Kenya (1 Viewer)

[Wiganlad]

A blurred old slide from Kenya 1985, rephotographed digitally. Possibly Samburu. Any help much appreciated.

 

[foresttwitcher]

Going out on a limb - perhaps female Little Spotted Woodpecker, but wait for those with more experience.

 

[Wiganlad]

Thanks foresttwitcher. My thought was the same or Nubian female. Pictures I've seen suggest Nubian has a white stripe above remnants of a dark stripe coming from the base of the bill along the face under the eye...which my blurred specimen doesn't appear to have, therefore suggesting Little Spotted. However, another pic I saw for Nubian showed a dark smudge in the same place where my image also has one coming down about quarter inch to 5 o'clock from the end of the red cap. So, indeed, more expert help needed!

 

[MacNara]

I've never seen Little Spotted, but judging from the book, your bird has too extensive an area of spotting on the back to be this species (i.e. it's a bigger bird, with more space for spots). I can't make out the detail in the face, as you seem to be able to do, but it looks fine for Nubian female to me. In any case, if it was taken in Samburu, that's way out of range for Little Spotted which according to the 2nd edition of Birds of East has one ssp (with barred underparts) in a very small area of SW Kenya, and another (with spotted underparts) in the southern half of coastal Kenya.

 

[Wiganlad]

That's a great help as my book is 40 years old! I suspected Nubian but I did think that my specimen had proper spots on its back whereas Nubian seemed to have white edgings to the feathers rather than spots (on images on line). But your info about range does mean that Little Spotted is certainly out of the question anyway

 

[Andy Adcock]

I've never seen Little Spotted, but judging from the book, your bird has too extensive an area of spotting on the back to be this species (i.e. it's a bigger bird, with more space for spots). I can't make out the detail in the face, as you seem to be able to do, but it looks fine for Nubian female to me. In any case, if it was taken in Samburu, that's way out of range for Little Spotted which according to the 2nd edition of Birds of East has one ssp (with barred underparts) in a very small area of SW Kenya, and another (with spotted underparts) in the southern half of coastal Kenya.

Hi Mac,
I agree that it looks to be too big for LSW, too long tailed too imo but, I'd expect to see at least some, white, eyestripe on Nubian?

 

[MacNara]

Hi Mac,
I agree that it looks to be too big for LSW, too long tailed too imo but, I'd expect to see at least some, white, eyestripe on Nubian?

Hi Andy, it looks like this bird, or this other bird to me. In addition, it's pecking away and may have sawdust (?peckdust) or other gubbins on its face.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Hi Andy, it looks like this bird, or this other bird to me. In addition, it's pecking away and may have sawdust (?peckdust) or other gubbins on its face.

It does.

 

[YourLocalTeenager]

Hi Andy, it looks like this bird, or this other bird to me. In addition, it's pecking away and may have sawdust (?peckdust) or other gubbins on its face.

yeah, I agree. I've seen it before.