From Opus

Photo by kampang
Singapore, October 2006

Dendrocopos moluccensis

Includes: Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

[edit] Identification

• Brown and white barring on upperparts
• Streaked white underparts
• Spotted white tail
• Pink-rimmed white irises
• Pale brown crown (edged with red in males)
• Pale brown eyestripe
• White supercilium and cheek

Subspecies nanus
Photo by obasanmi

[edit] Distribution

Found on the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka and from the Malay Peninsula (including Singapore) to Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Lesser Sundas.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

Five subspecies recognized:

• D.m. moluccensis on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra and Java
• D.m. grandis on the Lesser Sundas
• D.m. nanus in northern and central India
• D.m. cinereigula in southern India
• D.m. gymnophthalmus in Sri Lanka

The species is sometimes split. The first two subspecies would form D. moluccensis (Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker), the three others D. nanus (Brown-capped Woodpecker).

[edit] Habitat

Female "Sunda"
Photo by Karim Madoya
Papar, Sabah, Malaysia, February 2007

Paddy fields, mangroves, coastal scrub, plantations, parks and gardens, open woodland.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

Both sexes excavate a hole about 15-30cm long in a dead tree.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links