Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Sahel zone from Senegambia and southern Mali across to Eritrea, south to near coast of western Africa, and southern (around main forested belt) through east-central Africa including eastern and southern Zaire, much of eastern Africa, and from Angola, north-eastern Namibia and northern and eastern Botswana to Mozambique, south to Cape Province.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) [XC455528]
by isaac kilusu from Moi South Lake Rd, Lake Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya (song)
Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) [XC810966]
by GABRIEL LEITE from West Kanyada (near Rodi Kopany), Asego, Homa Bay County, Kenya (song)
Subspecies
Not very closely related to African congeners. Perhaps closest to African Scaly-throated Honeyguide (Indicator variegatus) and Lesser Honeyguide (Indicator minor) and Oriental Yellow-rumped Honeyguide (Indicator xanthonotus) and Malay Honeyguide (Indicator archipelagicus). Possibly not too distant from Lyre-tailed Honeyguide (Melichneutes robustus). Moderate individual, seasonal and altitudinal variation, along with mosaic pattern of geographical variation, makes racial subdivision impracticable.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet