Hongbenghe, a small village proper on the border of China’s Yunnan province and Myanmar, has plenty of woodpeckers. And most birders (although not all – see right here for an exception) fairly like woodpeckers, making it subject for a devoted put up.
In addition they obtained the seal of approval from the Audubon Society, which designated woodpeckers as keystone species for his or her essential function in creating habitat suited to different woodland wildlife (supply). Certainly, one research finds that the richness of woodpeckers is a dependable indicator of general chook richness in most forest stands and situations.
Partly, that is because of the function of woodpeckers as nature’s actual property builders (with out the bankruptcies now widespread in China) that are described intimately in an internet video, “Woodpeckers as Ecosystem Engineers”. Ornithologists name the species renting and shopping for houses from woodpeckers “secondary cavity nesters”.
The Larger Flameback has the appears to be like of a basic cartoon woodpecker, which hopefully the species will see as a praise from me.
Apparently, the scientific identify Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus (spot-crested) appears to solely discuss with the feminine …
… to not the red-crested male.
That’s regardless of the male usually being dominant, as described in an commentary of a household group: “The grownup male displayed dominant habits, did a lot of the drumming and made a lot of the calls”.
Encounters with different woodpecker species such because the Bay Woodpecker don’t at all times look very harmonious.
The crimson neck of this Bay Woodpecker signifies that it is usually a male.
The species has an individualistic streak – companions preserve solely unfastened acoustic contact however don’t forage shut to one another (supply: HBW), which is completely different from the Larger Flameback which is normally present in pairs or households.
There’s way more literature out there on the Gray-headed Woodpecker – particularly, End ornithologists (with typical End-sounding names akin to Pakkala, Kouki, Saari, or Mikusinski) appear to love finding out it, presumably because it shortens the commute to their analysis work.
They take a look at matters akin to nesting places (“44% of all nesting makes an attempt have been in outdated cavities”, supply) …
… their meals in summer season (ice cream, after all! … no, ant colonies) and winter (bark-dwelling bugs – supply) …
… or educate us new phrases akin to “autolycism” (Use of the alternatives supplied by the actions of one other animal, with out the chook changing into a parasite): Gray-headed Woodpeckers in Japan have been discovered to feed in holes made by the a lot bigger Black Woodpeckers after these had left the holes (supply).
Disgrace on Grammarly: It doesn’t know the phrase autolycism and tries to appropriate me. To be honest, I didn’t now it both.
And sure: once more, the crimson cap signifies the male chook.
The Larger Yellownape makes use of a unique identification scheme: the throat of the male is yellow …
… whereas the feminine has a brownish throat.
Each the Larger Yellownape and the Lesser Yellownape take part in mixed-species flocks – inside these flocks, they confirmed much less vigilance, an impact that elevated with the scale of the flock (supply). Sort of like a neighborhood watch strategy – and naturally, much less checking for predators means extra time to seek out meals. After all, if these have been US birds, they might be carrying weapons as effectively.
Right here with the Lesser Yellownape, we’re again to the usual woodpecker intercourse identification system: the male on the precise within the picture under has some extra crimson components.
Regardless of each yellownapes having simply that – a yellow nape – they aren’t significantly carefully associated.
Lastly, the Stripe-breasted Woodpecker has the quite unconvincing scientific identify Dendrocopos atratus, with atratus which means “clothed in morning” (or perhaps “clothed in black”).
If I inform you that this woodpecker follows the usual woodpecker intercourse identification scheme …
… then I’m certain you may intercourse the birds in these photographs.
And suppose you might be questioning how woodpeckers keep away from mind damage (setting them other than many gamers of US Soccer). In that case, there’s a good paper on this right here – written not by an ornithologist however by a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a Postdoctoral Scholar of Orthopedic Surgical procedure.
