Bay Woodpecker - BirdForum Opus

Artwork by Pratim Das

Blythipicus pyrrhotis

Identification

30 cm
Male

• Greyish brown head with red on the sides of the neck
• Rufous upperparts with dark brown bars
• Long, yellow bill
  

Female: lacks the red on the neck

Distribution

Southeast Asia, from India and China south to Malaysia.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Photo by tony.saw
Ta Nung Valley, Near Da Lat, Vietnam, March 2011

There are 5 subspecies^[1]:

• B. p. pyrrhotis:

• Nepal to southern China (Sichuan, Yunnan), Laos and northern Vietnam

• B. p. sinensis:

• South-eastern China (Guizhou and Guangxi to Fujian)

• B. p. annamensis:

• Highlands of southern Vietnam

• B. p. hainanus:

• Mountains of Hainan Island (southern China)

• B. p. cameroni:

• Highlands of Malay Peninsula

Habitat

Mature, broadleaved forest with dense undergrowth and often with bamboo.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of a variety of insects, including termites, ants and beetles. Known, also, to eat berries occasionally.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Arthur Grosset
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Bay Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Bay_Woodpecker

External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds

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