Red-headed bamboo woodpecker

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Red-headed bamboo woodpecker
Systematics
Order : Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family : Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Subfamily : Real woodpeckers (Picinae)
Genre : Bamboo Woodpecker ( Gecinulus )
Type : Red-headed bamboo woodpecker
Scientific name
Gecinulus viridis
Blyth , 1862

The Bamboo Woodpecker ( Gecinulus viridis ) is a species of bird from the family of woodpeckers (Picidae). This small and generally very dark colored woodpecker lives in parts of Southeast Asia. The species inhabits tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, where it shows a very close bond with larger stands of bamboo and numerous specializations in these plants. The food probably consists mainly of ants , beetle larvae and other insects. Red-headed bamboo woodpeckers are not very common and only occur locally, the population is likely to be decreasing. However, the species is still classified as harmless (“least concern”) by the IUCN .

description

Red-headed bamboo woodpeckers are small woodpeckers with a small hood, a soft and wide tail and a short, straight or slightly curved, chisel-shaped, pointed beak at the base. The nostrils are feathered. The body length is about 25-26 cm, they are slightly larger than a great spotted woodpecker . Information on weight is not yet available. The species shows a clear sexual dimorphism in terms of coloration .

Overall, these woodpeckers are quite dark brown and green. In the male, the entire upper side, including the umbrella feathers, is almost monochrome, matt yellowish green with a distinct bronze tone, only the rump and upper tail-coverts have dark blood-red tips. The arm and hand wings are dark brown with narrow greenish hems on the outer flags and rather indistinct light bands, which can also be stronger on the hand wings. The control feathers are lined with black-brown and greenish tones on top. The entire underside of the fuselage is a single color, dark olive-brown, perhaps a little paler in the lowest areas. The under wing are brownish with weak banding, the under wing coverts are gray and whitish spotted. The under tail is brown with a dull yellowish tinge.

The top of the head, hood and neck are red. The rest of the head is beige-brown with yellowish blurring, more golden-green towards the back of the head and the sides of the neck and darker and more brown towards the chin. The beak is pale yellow to whitish, slightly darker gray or greenish at the base. Legs and toes are olive green. The iris is dark red or reddish brown.

Females lack the red area on the head, the entire upper head is dull greenish yellow, on the hood and back of the head it is more yellowish ocher or straw-colored.

Vocalizations

The most frequent calls are dry rattle calls. Furthermore, a series of calls such as "Kiíp-kii-kii-kii-kii-kii-kii" is known with about 3 sounds per second. When meeting conspecifics, variable calls like “Kwiik-wiik-wiik-wiik-wiik-wiik” or “wii-a-wii-a-wii” are uttered . The drum rolls are loud and last about a second.

distribution and habitat

This woodpecker inhabits parts of continental Southeast Asia. The disjoint distribution area extends from south and south-east Myanmar to the south over neighboring north-west and west Thailand , north of Laos and parts of central and south Thailand to the Malay Peninsula . The size of the total distribution area is not exactly known.

Red-headed bamboo woodpeckers inhabit tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, where they show a close bond with larger stands of bamboo . The animals are largely restricted to lowlands in the north of their range, in the south of the area they occur at altitudes between 600 and 1400 m.

Systematics

Winkler et al. consider the species monotypical . A southern subspecies Gecinulus viridis robinsoni recognized by other authors is not accepted by them, as its characteristics also occur in the north of the area.

Way of life

The inconspicuous species mostly lives on bamboo and has developed a number of adaptations for the use of these plants, it rarely visits the ground. The food probably consists mainly of ants , beetle larvae and other insects. It is searched for on dead and living bamboo, from which the animals read their prey or probe it with their beak in cracks, crevices and holes. You move slowly and purposefully and carefully search the substrate. These woodpeckers can only at the Nodien cling enough of bamboo stalks to hack through this Nodien small round holes in the stems, chop them doing little intense and short. Red-headed bamboo woodpeckers move in an unusual way from node to node, sliding along the stalk that they clasp with their feet.

The species is mostly observed individually or in pairs. The caves are about 25 cm deep and are created in bamboo stalks above a nodus. Further information on the breeding biology is not yet available.

Existence and endangerment

There is no information on the size of the population. The species is believed to be rare and local, and the population is likely to be in decline due to continued habitat degradation. The red-headed bamboo woodpecker is still classified by the IUCN as harmless (“least concern”).

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Gecinulus viridis . ( Online , accessed December 17, 2010)
  2. ↑ Hans Winkler, David Christie and David Nurney: Woodpeckers. A Guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets, and Wrynecks of the World. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 1995: p. 381

literature

  • Hans Winkler , David 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. 156-157 and 380-381.

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