From Opus

Current revision

Photo by Wintibird
Mount Harriet, Andamans, India, December 2011

Alternative name: Andaman Black Woodpecker

Dryocopus hodgei

[edit] Identification

38cm. A large, black Woodpecker:

• Black plumage
• Prominent pale eye
• Red crest
• Male with red forecrown and red moustache, female only with red crest

Juveniles are duller. Young males lack the red moustache but they have a red forecrown.

Photo by James Eaton
Andaman Islands, India

[edit] Distribution

Endemic to the Andaman Islands, India.
A restricted-range species, still fairly common. However, the conversion of forest into agricultural land is likely to become a serious threat to this species.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.^[1]
Considered a subspecies of White-bellied Woodpecker by some authors^[2]

[edit] Habitat

Moist lowland evergreen forests, mangroves and open areas with big trees.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds on ants. Forages mainly on trunks of large trees but also on the ground.
Usually seen in pairs, sometimes in small family groups.
Breeding season from January to March. The hole is built 6 - 14m above the ground in a trunk of a dead tree or a large branch. Lays 2 eggs.
A resident species.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Avibase
3. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 2002. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334375
4. Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672

• List of references

[edit] External Links