Ground Woodpecker

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Ground Woodpecker at stays in or beside uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, Cederberg Wilderness Area, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve, Kogelberg Nature Reserve and Table Mountain National Park and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Ground Woodpecker is most recorded in Western Cape (60% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (21% of records), Eastern Cape (8% of records), based on 585 iNaturalist observations. 49 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Ground Woodpecker on site or nearby.

The Ground Woodpecker is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Cederberg Wilderness Area: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct; Anysberg Nature Reserve: Autumn and spring, Mar-May, Sep-Nov; Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The Ground Woodpecker (Geocolaptes olivaceus) is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

The ground woodpecker (Geocolaptes olivaceus) is one of only three ground-dwelling woodpeckers in the world (the others are the Andean and Campo flickers). It inhabits rather barren, steep, boulder-strewn slopes in relatively cool hilly and mountainous areas of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland and has yet to be recorded outside of Southern Africa.