Woodhoopoes (Phoeniculidae)
Forest Woodhoopoe (Phoeniculus castaneiceps) - HBW 6, p. 429
French: Irrisor à tête brune
German: Waldhopf
Spanish: Abubilla-arbórea Cabeciparda
Other common names: Chestnut-headed Woodhoopoe
Taxonomy: Irrisor castaneiceps Sharpe, 1871, Fanti, Ghana.
Taxonomy uncertain. Although included in Phoeniculus, this species shares several characteristics with Rhinopomastus and is occasionally placed in that genus; some aspects of plumage indicate affinities with Phoeniculus, perhaps especially P. bollei, whereas size, bare-part colours and vocalizations are closer to those of Rhinopomastus; further DNA studies needed to clarify true generic, and hence also subfamilial, affiliation. Birds from E Zaire, Uganda and W Kenya, described as race adolfifriederici, now considered indistinguishable from brunneic.. View all taxonomy...
Taxonomy uncertain. Although included in Phoeniculus, this species shares several characteristics with Rhinopomastus and is occasionally placed in that genus; some aspects of plumage indicate affinities with Phoeniculus, perhaps especially P. bollei, whereas size, bare-part colours and vocalizations are closer to those of Rhinopomastus; further DNA studies needed to clarify true generic, and hence also subfamilial, affiliation. Birds from E Zaire, Uganda and W Kenya, described as race adolfifriederici, now considered indistinguishable from brunneiceps. Two subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- castaneiceps (Sharpe, 1871) - Liberia E to Nigeria.
- brunneiceps (Sharpe, 1903) - Cameroon, Gabon and Congo through Zaire to Uganda; formerly extreme W Kenya.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
-
A bird exploring for food in a tree Locality Kakum National Park, Central Region, Ghana (ssp castaneiceps)
Juan Sanabria 1 November 2009 3 years ago 32 sec 3.5 -
A bird singing high in a tree Locality Mabira Forest, Uganda (ssp brunniceps)
Josep del Hoyo 15 September 2006 5 years ago 38 sec 2.6
-
White-headed morph feeding.
Locality Mabira Forest, Uganda (ssp brunneiceps)
Nik Borrow 17 June 2012 43 weeks ago 3.6
-
Call. Locality Kakum National Park, Central Region, Ghana
(ssp castaneiceps)
herve jacob 1 April 2012 1 year ago 3.5
Email this page