Picchio ventre di fuoco

Identificazione

The upper parts of the fire-bellied woodpecker are olive or bronze with slight barring. The wings are brown with some light barring and the upper-tail blackish. The rump and upper tail coverts are crimson. The head and throat are white, boldly marked with a blackish malar streak that extends onto the breast, and a post-ocular streak extending onto the ear-coverts. The breast is cream with dark chevrons on the flanks, the central region and belly being scarlet as far as the vent. The long, sharp beak is grey as are the legs. The sexes are different; the male has a red crown and nape while the female has this area black. The female has a longer tail and shorter beak than the male, and the red on her belly is less distinct. Juveniles are duller and browner than adults, and both sexes have some red on the crown at this age.

Tassonomia

Nome scientifico

Chloropicus pyrrhogaster

Autorità

(Malherbe, 1845)

Ordine

Piciformi

Famiglia

Picidae

Genere

Chloropicus

Areale e habitat

The fire-bellied woodpecker is native to tropical West Africa, its range extending from Upper Guinea and Sierra Leone eastwards to southern Nigeria and western Cameroon. It is found in the lowlands and foothills, its habitat being clearings and edges of primary rainforest; it is also found in gallery forest, scattered woodland, partially logged and degraded areas, wooded savannah and scrubby bush, and there are usually some large dead trees within its range. It is a non-migratory species.

Migrazione

Resident species

Comportamento

This woodpecker is usually seen in pairs or small family groups, but it sometimes associates with other insect-eating birds. It forages for insects, especially beetle larvae, mainly in the canopy and on dead standing trees, but sometimes descends onto fallen trees. Both sexes drum in the dry season in repeated, short rapid bursts, at the rate of 14 to 38 strikes per second.

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione

rising