Sunday 7 April 2019

Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Micropternus ("small heel") brachyurus ("short tailed")
Adult Rufous Woodpecker (subspecies M. b. squagmigularis) at Lower Pierce Reservoir, Singapore - February 2019

Featured Subspecies: Micropternus brachyurus squagmigularis
Weight: 55-114g  /  Length: 21-25cm  /  Wingspan: ?
NO UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Least Concern

While my preference for this website is generally to have a photograph which clearly identifies the species in question, sometimes I must admit I must be a little more creative.  In this case, I had been been a Lower Pierce Reservoir, and could hear what was distinctively a woodpecker call from the forest opposite the boardwalk where I was standing.  Eventually, I caught it flying over and snapped this shot of it in typical woodpecker flight.  A bit of detective work later - there are eight species of woodpecker recorded in Singapore, two of which are the ruddy-brown shown in this picture.  To differentiate between them, it was then a matter of listening to the call recordings on Xeno-canto to see which one matched what I'd heard.

Related Species:
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Micropternus
SUBSPECIES: M .b. humei, M. b. jerdonii, M. b. phaioceps, M. b. squagmigularis, M. b. brachyurus, M. b. badiosus, M. b. fokiensis, M. b. holroydi, M. b. annamensis 

 - Sighting Locations -
SINGAPORE - A scarce resident
 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: One seen around Lower Pierce Reservoir and surrounding area

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

No comments:

Post a Comment