NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Greater Honeyguide
Indicator indicator (Sparrman, 1777)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Adult male of the Greater honeyguide in Tanzania
Dominic Sherony · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator) is a bird in the paleotropical family Indicatoridae, that is related to the woodpeckers. Its English and scientific names refer to its habit of guiding people to bee colonies. Claims that it also guides non-human animals are disputed.
The greater honeyguide is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa. It lives in a variety of habitats with trees, especially dry open woodland, but not in the West African rain forest.
Wikipedia contributors, Greater honeyguide; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:12:43.854948+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Indicator indicator (Sparrman, 1777)
- Name authority
- (Sparrman, 1777)
- Common name
- Greater Honeyguide
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Indicatoridae
- Genus
- Indicator
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyIndicatoridae
- genusIndicator Stephens, 1815
- speciesIndicator indicator (Sparrman, 1777)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Indicator. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted HoneyguideIndicator maculatus G. R. Gray, 1847 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pallid HoneyguideIndicator meliphilus (Oberholser, 1905) | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser HoneyguideIndicator minor Stephens, 1815 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dwarf HoneyguideIndicator pumilio Chapin, 1958 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Scaly-throated HoneyguideIndicator variegatus R. Lesson, 1830 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-rumped HoneyguideIndicator xanthonotus Blyth, 1842 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Least HoneyguideIndicator exilis (Cassin, 1856) | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malaysian HoneyguideIndicator archipelagicus Temminck, 1832 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Thick-billed HoneyguideIndicator conirostris (Cassin, 1856) | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Willcocks's HoneyguideIndicator willcocksi Alexander, 1901 | IndicatoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=553932 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3PLPF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.