Fireback Woodpecker

Fireback Woodpecker
	Fire-backed woodpecker (male)
Systematics
Class :	Birds (aves)
Order :	Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family :	Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Subfamily :	Real woodpeckers (Picinae)
Genre :	Dinopium
Type :	Fireback Woodpecker
Scientific name
	Dinopium javanense
	( Ljungh , 1797)

The fire backed woodpecker ( Dinopium javanense ) is a species of bird from the family of woodpeckers (Picidae). The medium-sized woodpecker lives in large parts of South and Southeast Asia and inhabits a wide range of more or less open forest habitats from moist secondary forest and light forests, open deciduous forests, scrub and mangrove to pine forests in higher elevations and coconut groves, parks, gardens and golf courses. The food most likely sought after in the lower and middle layer of the tree consists mainly of ants and insect larvae, but also includes cockroaches and other insects as well as small scorpions .

The species is considered to be rare to locally quite common; the population is estimated to be stable. The fire-backed woodpecker is therefore classified by the IUCN as safe (“least concern”).

description

Fire-backed woodpeckers are medium-sized woodpeckers with a pronounced feather hood, a rather soft, long and slightly downwardly curved tail and a relatively short, point-like, pointed beak that is narrow at the base. The ridge of the beak is bent downwards. The body length is 28-30 cm, the weight about 67-100 g. They are thus about the size of a green woodpecker , but only weigh about as much as a woodpecker . The species is colored richly and shows a clear sexual dimorphism with regard to the coloring .

In males of the subspecies D. j. Found in most of the continental Southeast Asia . intermedium , the uppermost back is black. The rest of the upper back, the shoulder feathers, the upper wing coverts and the umbrella feathers are olive with yellow feather edges and tips and a strong gold tone. The lower back and rump are bright red, the upper tail-coverts are blackish brown, occasionally with an olive shade. The wings are black-brown, the umbrella feathers and the arm wings have yellow olive outer flags and all wings are spotted white on the inside flags . The top of the tail is black. The chin and throat are whitish with a center line of black spots. The basic color of the entire underside of the trunk is white; the feathers show irregular black seams and tips, which are strongest on the chest and are less strong and more like bandages towards the back. The lower wings are spotted white on a brown background. The lower tail is brown-black, the outer feathers show a yellowish tone.

The forehead and the feathers on the upper beak base are brownish-red, the skull and cap are red; the red color is limited to a narrow black at the top of the head. A broad white stripe above the eyes extends from the top of the eye to the back of the head. Below that, a wide black eye stripe runs from the back of the eye to the nape of the neck. The white rein strip begins at the base of the beak and runs backwards below the ear covers, then becomes wider and runs as a white band over the side of the neck to the upper side of the chest. The black stripe of beard beginning at the lower base of the beak continues as a black front border of the white side of the neck, also to the upper breast. The neck is black like the top back.

The beak is blackish to dark gray-brown, legs and toes are gray to brown. The iris is reddish brown or brown.

Fire-backed woodpecker, female of the nominate form D. j. javanense

In the female the red head parts are missing; The forehead, skull and cap are black with white dashes.

Vocalizations

The flight calls consist of a variable series of sounds such as “kowp-owp-owp-owp” , seated birds similarly call “kow” once or twice . In internal disputes, calls like "wicka" are uttered. The “rattle call” is a harsh, persistent “churrrrrrrr” or “ka-di-di-di-di-di” . The type of drums, the drum series are apparently not yet described in detail.

distribution and habitat

This species of woodpecker inhabits large parts of South and Southeast Asia. The strongly fragmented distribution area extends in a west-east direction from Bangladesh and the northern and central Assam to the southwest of the Chinese province of Yunnan , to the east coast of Vietnam , to the westernmost islands of the Philippines and to the east of Borneo . To the south, the area of the species extends over all of Indochina and the Great Sunda Islands to the southern tip of Sumatra , Java and Bali, with the exception of northern Myanmar . The species is also geographically isolated in the southern part of the Western Ghats in southwest India. The size of the total distribution area is not known.

Fire-backed woodpeckers inhabit a broad spectrum of more or less open forest habitats from moist secondary forest and sparse forests, open deciduous forests, bushland and mangrove over pine forests of higher elevations to coconut groves, parks, gardens and golf courses. Although the animals are mainly restricted to the flat and hilly areas, the altitude ranges on the Great Sunda Islands up to around 1000 m, in continental Southeast Asia up to 1530 m and in India even up to 1700 m.

Systematics

Six subspecies are recognized, of which only Dinopium j. everetti is clearly differentiated. The subspecies are listed here according to their distribution from west to east:

Dinopium javanense intermedium ( Blyth , 1845) - Most of the continental part of Southeast Asia. The subspecies is described above.
Dinopium j. malabaricum Whistler & Kinnear , 1934 - Southwest India. Very similar to the previous subspecies, but on average a little smaller, back and upper wings less golden yellow and more olive.

Dinopium j. javanense ( Ljungh , 1797) - western Malaysia , Sumatra, western Java and most of Borneo. Even smaller than Dinopium j. malabaricum , but otherwise very similar to the two previous subspecies, occasionally with a light brownish tone on the face and throat. The population on Borneo shows a tendency to less orange on the back and to a somewhat more pronounced banding of the underside of the trunk, but these differences are not clearly differentiated in view of the individual variation.

Dinopium j. exsul ( Hartert , 1901) - East Java and Bali. Like the nominate form Dinopium j. javanense , but strong underside, but irregularly banded, females show a narrow orange or red neck band.

Dinopium j. borneonense ( Dubois, AJC , 1897) - Northeast Borneo and Eraban Island . Very similar to the nominate form, but the underside markings perhaps a little more brownish and less black and the throat wider with dark spots, females tend to have very narrow white dashes on the top of the head. The subspecies is described by Winkler et al. as D. j. raveni , but today this name is mostly used as a synonym for Dinopium j. borneonense considered.

Dinopium j. everetti ( Tweeddale , 1878) - Western Philippines ( Balabac , Palawan, and Calamian Islands ). Both sexes with a flesh-colored or yellowish-brown tone on the throat, neck and upper chest, the throat patches are stronger and extended to the upper chest, the underside is more banded than spotted. The red-colored areas of the skull are more extensive in the male and also cover the upper sides of the head, the white stripe above the eyes is much narrower. In addition, the beard stripe shows red feather tips to a variable extent and can also look almost completely red. In the females, the hood and a large part of the occiput are colored red, the otherwise black upper head only has very small dashes in the front area or is completely undrawn. The white stripe above the eyes is also much narrower.

nutrition

The species can be observed at all heights of the tree layer, but the foraging for food takes place mainly in the lower and middle tree layer on both old and young trees. The diet consists mainly of ants and insect larvae, but also includes cockroaches and other insects, as well as small scorpions . Food is obtained primarily by reading and probing, less often by chopping. Occasionally the animals also hunt insects in flight. Fire-backed woodpeckers climb quickly and appear a bit hectic. They only stay briefly in one place, but on the other hand, they interrupt their search for food by remaining motionless in one place for a while. It is not uncommon for considerable distances to be covered between individual places sought for food.

Reproduction

Fire-backed woodpeckers live individually or in pairs, the partners keep in contact with each other through frequent calls. The breeding season varies depending on the area of distribution, in India it ranges from January to June, in Malaysia from January to July, in Borneo from April to December. The caves are created in relatively open trees or tree stumps at heights between 2 and 10 m, but mostly less than 5 m. The clutch consists of two to three eggs. Further information on the breeding biology is not yet available.

Existence and endangerment

Information on the size of the world population is not available. The species is considered to be rare to locally quite common; the population is estimated to be stable. The fire-backed woodpecker is therefore classified by the IUCN as safe (“least concern”).

swell

Individual evidence

↑ Der Feuerrückenspecht at BirdLife International (Online, accessed December 27, 2010)
^ ^A ^b Hans Winkler, David A. Christie and David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995: p. 375
↑ Avibase: Dinopium javanense raveni. [1] (Online, accessed December 28, 2010)
↑ Zoonomes: Dinopium. [2] (Online, accessed December 28, 2010)

literature

Hans Winkler , David A. Christie and David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995, ISBN 0-395-72043-5 , pp. 152-153 and 374-375.

Web links

Dinopium javanense in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2010. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Retrieved on December 25 of 2010.