The order Piciformes is made up of the woodpecker family Picidae plus 8 other families. Picidae make up about half of the species. In general, the Piciformes are insectivorous, but some exceptions eat mostly fruit. Nearly all Piciformes have parrot-like feet—two toes forward and two back, an arrangement that has obvious advantages for birds that spend much of their time on tree trunks. And most Piciformes do not have down feathers at any age, only true feathers. All nest in cavites.
Family Indicatoridae: Honeyguides
The honeyguides are found mainly in Africa, but some are also in Asia. One or two species deliberately lead humans directly to bee colonies, so that they can feast on the grubs and beeswax that are left behind. Most honeyguides are dull-colored, though some have bright yellow coloring in the plumage. All have light outer tail feathers, which are white in all the African species.
Genus Indicator
Most of these honeyguides are found in Africa
Honeyguide,_Dwarf Indicator pumilio Found: DR Congo, Rwanda, Uganda
Image by: 1) Greg & Yvonne Dean
Honeyguide,_Greater Indicator indicator Found: Africa
The Greater Honeyguide has bold white patches on side of tail. Male has gray-brown upperparts; yellowish-white underparts; black throat; pink bill.
Image by: 1) Allan Hopkins - Gambia 2) Lohman-Braun - Gambia 3) Wilferd Duckitt
1) Juvenile
Honeyguide,_Least Indicator exilis Found: Africa
Image by: 1) hbw.com 2) Nik Borrow - Ghana
Honeyguide,_Lesser Indicator minor Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Alan Manson 2) Ian White - Botswana 3) Derek Keats - South Africa
Honeyguide,_Malaysian Indicator archipelagicus Found: Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra), Malaysia, Thailand,
The Malaysian Honeyguide has olive-brown upperparts with greenish streaks; thick gray bill; grayish-white underparts. Male has yellow patch on shoulder; female doen't.
Image by: 1) Nicolas LeJeune 2) Zohairi
1) Male
Honeyguide,_Pallid Indicator meliphilus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Ken Clifton - Tanzania
Honeyguide,_Scaly-throated Indicator variegatus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya 2) Steve Garvie 3) Peter_Steward - Malawi
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Honeyguide,_Spotted Indicator maculatus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Frans Vandewalle - Gambia 2) Michael Andersen - Sierra Leone
Honeyguide,_Thick-billed Indicator conirostris Found: Africa
The Thick-billed Honeyguide has yellow-green upperparts with dark streaking; dark gray head, underparts.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi
Honeyguide,_Willcocks's Indicator willcocksi Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Vigel Voaden - Cameroon 2) Nik_Borrow - Senegal
Honeyguide,_Yellow-rumped Indicator xanthonotus Found: Asia
The Yellow-rumped Honeyguide has dusky olive upperparts; orange forehead, lores, rump; yellowish chin; pale gray underparts with streaks.
Image by: 1) R. E. B. 2) Dibyendu_Ash
Genus Melichneutes - 1 species
Honeyguide,_Lyre-tailed Melichneutes robustus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) hbw.com
Genus Melignomon
Honeyguide,_Yellow-footed Melignomon eisentrauti Found: Cameroon, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone
Image by: 1) hbw.com 2) Nik_Borrow - Ghana
Honeyguide,_Zenker's Melignomon zenkeri Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 2) Gareth_Knass - Uganda
Genus Prodotiscus
These African honeybirds have grayish upperparts; whitish-gray underparts; small bills.
Honeybird,_Brown-backed also Wahlberg's Honeyguide Prodotiscus regulus Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Alan Manson 4) Peter_Steward
1) Juvenile 2) Juvenile with host parent Rock-loving Cisticola
Honeybird, Cassin's also Cassin's Honeyguide Prodotiscus insignis Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 2) Arthur Grosset - Ghana
Honeybird,_Green-backed also Green-backed Honeyguide Prodotiscus zambesiae Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Nigel Voaden - DR of Congo 2) Maans_Booysen - Angola
