Japanese green woodpecker

Japanese green woodpecker
	Japanese green woodpecker (female)
Systematics
Class :	Birds (aves)
Order :	Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family :	Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Subfamily :	Real woodpeckers (Picinae)
Genre :	Picus
Type :	Japanese green woodpecker
Scientific name
	Picus awokera
	Temminck , 1836

The Japanese Green Woodpecker ( Picus awokera ) is a species of bird from the family of woodpeckers (Picidae). The medium-sized woodpecker species is endemic to Japan and lives in fairly open mixed forest in the north, warm-temperate evergreen forest in the south, but also parks and gardens. The food, which is mainly sought in the middle layer of the tree and only rarely on the ground, consists mainly of ants , but also bugs , beetles and their larvae and spiders are preyed on. These woodpeckers also eat fruits, berries and seeds, tree saps and nectar .

The species is quite common and the population is considered stable. The Japanese green woodpecker is therefore classified by the IUCN as safe (“least concern”).

description

The Japanese green woodpecker is a typical representative of the genus Picus and is similar in habit and color to the green woodpecker, which is also native to Central Europe . They are medium-sized woodpeckers without a distinct feather hood, a stiff, long tail and a relatively long, pointed, pointed beak that is broad at the base. The ridge of the beak is slightly bent downwards. The body length is 29–30 cm, the weight 120–138 g. This makes them somewhat smaller and considerably lighter than a green woodpecker. The species shows a clear sexual dimorphism in terms of coloration , females are also somewhat smaller and shorter-billed than males.

In the male, the entire back including the shoulder feathers and the outer upper tail-coverts is gray-green to olive-green, the rump and the central upper-tail coverts have green feather bases with broad yellow tips. The upper wing ceilings and the umbrella feathers are green with bronze-yellow edges and tips. The wings are blackish brown, the arm wings and the inner hand wings have greenish outer flags and the outer hand wings and the inside flags of the arm wings and the inner hand wings are banded white. The upper side of the tail is medium to dark brown, the central control feathers are lined with a greenish tinge and banded indistinctly with a lighter yellowish brown color. The basic color of the neck and chest is gray-white or light beige-green, the color is lighter towards the belly. The lower breast, the flanks and the belly show a strong and broad wavy or blunt triangular banding, which has a greenish olive tone on the flanks. The coverts under the tail are also broadly banded in dark on a beige-tinted background. The lower wings are dirty white; the under wing-coverts are banded black, the banding of the wings is brown. The lower tail is colored like the upper tail, but lighter overall.

The lower forehead and the area in front of and under the eyes are blackish. The middle upper and back of the head are red, this red area widens towards the back and is interspersed with black and gray feathers to a variable extent. The beard stripe is red and broadly black edged. The rest of the head is gray, often with a shade of green in the fresh plumage. The chin and throat are white or grayish white, the latter can occasionally have a blackish area in the middle. The neck is gray-green.

The beak is yellowish, the ridge and tip or almost the entire upper beak are blackish. Legs and toes are light gray with a greenish or bluish wash. The iris is red.

In the female, the red head area is limited to the back of the head; the top of the head is gray with black lines and bands in the middle, which sometimes also form a distinct black spot. The red color is also less extensive in the beard stripe.

Depending on the author, a distinction is made between up to three subspecies, which differ in size and brightness. According to Winkler et al. However, this is a north-south running line of decreasing size and increasingly darker overall color, which makes a division into subspecies hardly justified.

Vocalizations

The species is quite noisy before and during the breeding season. Known calls are a single, loud, whip- crack- like “pijo” and two-syllable calls like “ket, ket” . The animals drum, the drum rolls are very fast and long.

distribution and habitat

This species of woodpecker is endemic to Japan . With the exception of the northernmost island of Hokkaidō, it occurs on all of the country's large islands and on the smaller islands of Tobishima , Awashima , Sado and Tsushima . The size of the total distribution area is 281,000 km².

Japanese green woodpeckers inhabit fairly open mixed forest in the north, warm temperate evergreen forest in the south, but also parks and gardens. Older conifer monocultures are apparently largely avoided. The species is largely limited in its occurrence to the hilly and lower mountainous regions and is most often found at altitudes between 300 and 1400 m, occasionally the species also occurs in the flatlands or up to 2000 m altitude.

nutrition

Foraging takes place mainly in the middle tree layer at heights between 2 and 10 m on larger branches, but also on thin twigs; however, unlike many species of the genus Picus, apparently only to a small extent on the ground. The food mainly consists of ants of the genera Lasius , Formica , Camponotus and Crematogaster , besides bedbugs , beetles and their larvae and spiders are preyed on. These woodpeckers also eat fruits, berries and seeds, tree saps and nectar . Food objects are obtained mainly by reading and chopping, less often by probing and especially in winter and spring also by licking juice.

Reproduction

Japanese green woodpeckers live in pairs. The breeding season extends from April to June. The caves are usually created low in trees at a height of 2–4 m, the clutch consists of seven or eight eggs. Further information on the breeding biology is apparently not yet available.

Existence and endangerment

Information on the size of the world population is not available, but the species is quite common and the population is considered stable. The Japanese green woodpecker is therefore classified by the IUCN as safe (“least concern”).

swell

Individual evidence

↑ 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. 365
↑ The Japanese Green Woodpecker at BirdLife International (Online, accessed January 7, 2011)

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. 148-149 and 365-366.

Web links

Picus awokera in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2010. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Accessed January 7 2011th