Alternative name: Rabier's Woodpecker
- Picus rabieri
Identification
30 cm
- Red head except olive-greyish sides of head
- Red upper breast with buffish olive-grey throat
- Whitish line above eye
- Green upperparts with slightly paler rump
- Plain olive underparts with whitish belly-bars
Female similar but with black crown. Juveniles similar to adult females but duller above and greyer below and with orange-red on head and upper breast.
Distribution
From extreme southeast Yunnan (China) to Laos and Vietnam. One record from Cambodia.
Scarce to uncommon in its range, locally more common in Laos.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Apparently closely related to Streak-throated Woodpecker, Streak-breasted Woodpecker and Laced Woodpecker.
Habitat
Found in broadleaved evergreen and semi-evergreen forest. Also in secondary growth with lots of bamboo.
Occurs from lowlands up to 700 m, rarely higher. Most frequent on gentle hill slopes below 400 m in Laos.
Behaviour
Usually seen singly, in pairs or in family groups. Regularly in mixed-species flocks with birds like White-crested Laughingthrush, Large Scimitar Babbler and other woodpeckers like Common Flameback, Greater Yellownape, Laced Woodpecker or Lesser Yellownape.
Diet
Feeds probably mainly on ants.
Forages often low down on trees or on the ground.
Breeding
Breeding season from May to June. No other information.
Movements
This is a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Red-collared Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-collared_Woodpecker
