This tropical woodland species occurs widely from West and central Africa down the eastern side of southern Africa into South Africa as far as Cape Town. Four subspecies are recognized of which the nominate woodfordii occurs throughout Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In southern Africa, it is often associated with coastal or riverine woodland and has been recorded in the riparian woodland of the Okavango, Kwando, and Zambezi rivers. It is curiously absent from the Chobe River. Another population is found on the Kunene River near Epupa Falls. This population is not isolated, but rather represents the southern limit of the Angolan population.