Orange-backed Woodpecker
Chrysocolaptes validus
Dressed all in patchwork, this crested woodpecker is brightly colored and unmistakable; no other large crested woodpecker in its range has wingbars. Male has a faded reddish crest, an orange breast, and a whitish back with a warm buffy tinge. Female has a brown head and breast and a whiter back. Calls are sharp and strident, and can be given singly or, more commonly, as part of prolonged series in which pairs of notes are squished together to produce a squeaky-toy sound: “pee-pee-pee-peeyit-pee-pee-pee-peeyit!” Found in forests from lowlands up into hilly and montane areas.
Taxonomy
The orange-backed woodpecker was described and illustrated in 1825 by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in his Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d'oiseaux from specimens that had been collected on the Indonesian island of Java. He coined the binomial name Pic validus.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Chrysocolaptes validus
- Authority
- (Temminck, 1825)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Chrysocolaptes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Common Murre
Uria aalge
Black-and-white seabird with crisp patterning. Dark brownish-black above with white belly. Head entirely dark in breeding plumage; nonbreeding show white face with curved dark line below eye. Sides usually show some messy dark streaks. Bill is longer and more slender than similar Thick-billed Murre; but can be difficult to judge at a distance. Also note browner plumage and streaky sides on Common Murre. Breeds in colonies on rocky islands and cliffs; spends the rest of the year on the ocean. Usually single or in loose small groups; in the Atlantic, sometimes seen in loose association with Razorbills.
Yellow-browed Antbird
Hypocnemis hypoxantha
Rather small antbird with a disjunct distribution. Males have a yellow face and underparts with a black crown, eye-line, and streaks on the breast. Females have a yellow streaked crown. Southeastern subspecies has ochraceous lower underparts. Song is a descending and decelerating series of fluted notes becoming harsher at the end. Found in the understory of humid forests, often in areas of transitional forest or poor soils. Rarely accompanies mixed-species flocks. The similar Spix's and Peruvian Warbling-Antbirds have white breasts, and the song of Peruvian is somewhat slower-paced.
Abbott's Starling
Arizelopsar femoralis
A small, distinctive starling with a tiny range in Kenya and Tanzania. The male has a blue-black back and breast and a white belly. Females have a brown back and breast and a pale belly with brown streaks. Both sexes show a yellow eye. Uncommon and local in montane forest. Found in the canopy, in pairs or small flocks, often perching up conspicuously on dead snags and other open perches. Similar to Sharpe’s Starling, but has a dark breast. The calls include a sharp “sveet” and the song is a rapid, high-pitched tinkling phrase.
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