Laced Woodpecker

Picus vittatus

Typical green woodpecker, with a tea-green back, gray face, and solid black moustache stripe. Male has a bright red crown while female has a dull black one. Strikingly striped wings most readily seen in flight. Gives sharp, loud “kip” calls and more strident two-note calls during confrontations. In southwestern Thailand and southern Myanmar, look out for the similar Streak-breasted Woodpecker, which has a faded, indistinct moustache stripe in both sexes. Also compare with Streak-throated Woodpecker, which, as the name suggests, has noticeable streaking on the throat, as well as a more indistinct moustache stripe.

Identification

The laced woodpecker (Picus vittatus) is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found throughout Southeast Asia in the countries of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. A sole specimen recorded for Bangladesh has since been reidentified as a streak-breasted woodpecker. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical mangrove forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

Taxonomy

Genus: Picus; Family: Picidae; Order: Piciformes.

Scientific name
Picus vittatus
Authority
Vieillot, 1818
Order
Piciformes
Family
Picidae
Genus
Picus

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: declining.

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Brown Hornbill

Brown Hornbill

Anorrhinus austeni

As the name suggests, a brown bird with a horn (casque) on its bill. Males are more brightly marked, with a white face and light orange-brown underparts. Females are darker brown with an almost black face. Both sexes have pale bills with small casques and a patch of bare blue-gray skin around the eye (smaller and darker in females). Inhabits lowland and hill forests. Gives high-pitched, rather raptor-like screams.

Long-billed Tailorbird

Long-billed Tailorbird

Artisornis moreaui

Inconspicuous, apalis-like grayish warbler with a long tail, straight thin bill, and buff-brown forehead. Isolated population in Mozambique, sometimes considered a different species (Njesi Tailorbird), is smaller, darker, and browner on the head. Singles and pairs are very low density, shy and creep slowly through the undergrowth and canopy, especially nearby streams; sometimes joins mixed-species flocks. Song a pleasant sweet bouncing “eeh-yuh, eeh-yuh, eeh-yuh” or strident “peelik-peelik-peelik”, sometimes joined in duet with a dry buzzing “dzit”; call a high-pitched “chhet” like a squeaky dog’s toy. Similar Brown-headed Apalis is shorter-billed than Long-billed Tailorbird and has white tips to the tail.

Dwarf Cassowary

Dwarf Cassowary

Casuarius bennetti

A huge flightless bird of hill and montane forest; occasionally in lowland rainforest, especially where other cassowary species are absent. The smallest member of the family. Plumage loose and black in adults, brown in juveniles. Adults have a bright blue neck with a red patch on the lower nape. Also note the low, rounded casque. Very secretive and seldom seen. Forages for fallen fruit on the forest floor. Similar to other cassowary species but smaller in size, with lower casque, lacking wattles and does not normally co-occur.

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