Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker
Yungipicus moluccensis
Small plain woodpecker of wooded areas from primary rainforest to parklands and forest edges. Brownish overall with a white-striped head, a spotted back, and pale gray streaks on a buffy breast. Male has a small red speck near the back of the crown. Similar Gray-capped Woodpecker is black-and-white, with a less cleanly striped head, cleaner underparts, and unevenly distributed pale spotting on the back and wings. Sunda’s call is a high-pitched rattling trill.
Identification
This is a small woodpecker with an overall length of around 13 cm (5.1 in). It has a greyish brown capped head, dark brown ear covers with two rather broad whitish grey bands narrowing towards neck. Upper parts greyish brown with white wings tipped with white thus appearing striped. Tail short and blackish with white bands. Lores and throat white leading into dirty white underparts. Upper breast streaked with brown reducing towards vent. Whitish underwing coverts with pale brown. Sexes dimorphic. Males have a reddish orange crown which is absent in females.
Taxonomy
The Sunda pygmy woodpecker was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other woodpeckers in the genus Picus and coined the binomial name Picus moluccensis. Gmelin based his description on "Le petit épeiche brun des Moluques" that had been described in 1780 by the French polymath Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The locality was originally specified as the Maluku Islands. This was an error and has been corrected to the state of Malacca in Malaysia. The Sunda pygmy woodpecker is now one of seven species placed in the genus Yungipicus that was introduced in 1854 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Yungipicus moluccensis
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Yungipicus
Range and habitat
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical mangrove forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
A common visitor to urban areas and forests in Singapore. Often found singly or in pairs rapidly moving up trees. Found from ground right up into the topmost branches of trees on dead branches.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cabanis's Bunting
Emberiza cabanisi
Colorful, boldly marked bunting. Note the white eyebrow, broad black face mask, dark back with two white wingbars, and yellow underparts. Males and females are similar, though females are duller, especially on the face. The birds in the southeastern part of the range have a white stripe through the center of the crown, while elsewhere the crown is completely black. Generally uncommon and local in lush woodland, savanna, and forest edge. The loud song consists of up-and-down whistles and trills. Similar to other yellow-breasted buntings, but easily separated by the solidly black ear patch.
Aztec Rail
Rallus tenuirostris
Large, chickenlike rail of fresh marshes in highlands. Heard more often than seen; its main call is a rhythmic dry chatter. No similar large rails in its range. Note the large size, rusty neck and breast, barred flanks, and long, mostly orange beak. Virginia Rail is much smaller, with blue-gray cheeks.
Hooded Butcherbird
Cracticus cassicus
A large, pied bird of lowland and foothill secondary forest and edges. Note the distinctive black hood extending to the chest, Also black back, edge to the wing and end of the tail. The rest of the plumage is white. Long, silvery bill with black tip. Similar to Black-backed Butcherbird, but Hooded is larger and has a black rather than white throat and chest. Typical butcherbird low, electronic warbles which it gives while raising and lowering its wings.
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