CreatureData

Cardinal woodpecker

Dendropicos fuscescens (Vieillot, 1818)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) is a species in the family Picidae, order Piciformes. Recorded adults weigh 26 g to 29.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)
Photo: Tom Tarrant · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the cardinal woodpecker

Weight
26 g – 29.8 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
11 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.4 – 2.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the cardinal woodpecker

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)
Alan Manson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the cardinal woodpecker live?

Not recorded

What is the cardinal woodpecker?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs in a wide range of habitats, ranging from dense forest to thorn bush. It is fairly vocal and is easily identified by its call notes. The sexes are distinguishable by their head patterns. They feed primarily on tree-boring insects; using their adhering tongues they extract the insects from holes in wood or bark.

From the Wikipedia article “Cardinal woodpecker” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cardinal_woodpecker&oldid=1379961923), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the cardinal woodpecker endangered?

The cardinal woodpecker is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the cardinal woodpecker classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPiciformes
  5. familyPicidae
  6. genusDendropicos
  7. SpeciesDendropicos fuscescens (Vieillot, 1818)

Synonyms Chloropicus fuscescens, Picus fuscescens

Other names and names in other languages (33)
  • CAWOEnglish
  • KardinaalspegAfrikaans
  • picot cardenalCatalan
  • datel kardinálskýCzech
  • cnocell resog AffricaWelsh
  • KardinalspætteDanish
  • KardinalspechtGerman
  • kardinala pegoEsperanto
  • Pito cardenalSpanish
  • Carpintero CardenalSpanish
  • vöötselg-väikerähnEstonian
  • ruso-otsatikkanenFinnish
  • Pic cardinalFrench
  • smeđočeli djetlićCroatian
  • kardinális harkályHungarian
  • Picchio cardinaleItalian
  • アフリカコゲラJapanese
  • kardinolinis savaninis genysLithuanian
  • KardinaalspechtDutch
  • kardinalspettNorwegian
  • dzięcioł jasnolicyPolish
  • pica-pau-cardealPortuguese
  • Кардиналовый дятелRussian
  • Кардинальский саванный дятелRussian
  • ďateľ kardinálskySlovak
  • Kardinalski detlićSerbian
  • Kardinal AğaçkakanıTurkish
  • KokomoreTswana
  • дятел сірощокийUkrainian
  • 深紅啄木Chinese
  • 暗紅啄木鳥Chinese
  • 暗红啄木鸟Chinese
  • iNqondaqondaZulu

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the cardinal woodpecker

Other species in the same genus Dendropicos.

CompareCardinal woodpecker vs African grey woodpeckerCardinal woodpecker vs Abyssinian woodpeckerCardinal woodpecker vs Olive woodpeckerCardinal woodpecker vs Gabon woodpecker

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the cardinal woodpecker?

An adult cardinal woodpecker weighs 26 g – 29.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the cardinal woodpecker endangered?

The cardinal woodpecker is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the cardinal woodpecker?

The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) belongs to the family Picidae in the order Piciformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cardinal-woodpecker

MLA

“Cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cardinal-woodpecker.

BibTeX
@misc{cardinal_woodpecker_2026,
  title = {Cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cardinal-woodpecker},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}