The cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa.

The cardinal woodpecker was formally described in 1818 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the binomial name Picus fuscescens.

Its back plumage is dull olive in colour, and is marked with paler dots and bands.

The white throat and face are separated by a conspicuous black malar stripe, and the fore crown is olive brown.

[8] The cardinal woodpecker is native to tropical parts of western and central Africa.

Its range includes Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Forages mainly in the lower storeys of trees and among shrubs and vines, on maize stalks and reeds.

Pecks rapidly and probes dense vegetation, clambering along and hanging from small twigs.