- Picus squamatus
Identification
35 cm (13¾ in)
- Green
- Distinct scaling from breast to vent
- Black moustache
- Black bordered white supercilium
- Tail strongly barred
- Crown red in male, black in female
- Large pale bill
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat Town, Alt. 4800 ft., Dist. Almora, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, April-2019
Juvenile: has a dark face, dark bill, (throat and breast can cause ID confusion with Streak-throated Woodpecker), but the white barring on the tail is diagnostic.
Distribution
Asia: found in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- P.s.squamatus :
- North-eastern Afghanistan to northern India (Darjeeling)
- P.s.flavirostris:
- Afghanistan (except north-east) and western Pakistan
Habitat
Coniferous forests; Hilly wooded areas. Observed at heights around 1524m in the Himalayas.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of ants and fruit.
Breeding
A wide variety of trees are used for their nest hole, which is excavated by both species.
Vocalisation
Two individuals were feeding on a Pine tree in Himalayan Forest ( 2417 meter/7930 ft ) when
one flew-off giving a call in-flight.
Recording by Alok Tewari
Kalatop Forest, Dalhousie, Dist. Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India June-2008
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2014)
- BF Member Observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Scaly-bellied Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Scaly-bellied_Woodpecker
External Links
Search the Gallery for videos of Scaly-bellied Woodpecker:
