Hongbenghe, a small village proper on the border of China’s Yunnan province and Myanmar, has various woodpeckers. And most birders (although not all – see right here for an exception) fairly like woodpeckers, making it a very good matter for a devoted put up.
Additionally they acquired 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 hen richness in most forest stands and circumstances.
Partly, that is because of the function of woodpeckers as nature’s actual property builders (with out the bankruptcies now frequent in China) that are described intimately in a web-based video, “Woodpeckers as Ecosystem Engineers”. Ornithologists name the species renting and shopping for houses from woodpeckers “secondary cavity nesters”.
The Larger Flameback has the seems 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 sometimes being dominant, as described in an remark 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 pink neck of this Bay Woodpecker signifies that it’s also 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 often present in pairs or households.
There’s way more literature accessible on the Gray-headed Woodpecker – specifically, End ornithologists (with typical End-sounding names corresponding to Pakkala, Kouki, Saari, or Mikusinski) appear to love finding out it, presumably because it shortens the commute to their analysis work.
They have a look at matters corresponding to nesting places (“44% of all nesting makes an attempt have been in previous cavities”, supply) …
… their meals in summer season (ice cream, in fact! … no, ant colonies) and winter (bark-dwelling bugs – supply) …
… or train us new phrases corresponding to “autolycism” (Use of the alternatives offered by the actions of one other animal, with out the hen 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 right me. To be honest, I didn’t now it both.
And sure: once more, the pink cap signifies the male hen.
The Larger Yellownape makes use of a distinct 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 dimensions of the flock (supply). Type of like a neighborhood watch method – and naturally, much less checking for predators means extra time to search out meals. In fact, if these have been US birds, they might be carrying weapons as nicely.
Right here with the Lesser Yellownape, we’re again to the usual woodpecker intercourse identification system: the male on the best within the picture under has some extra pink components.
Regardless of each yellownapes having simply that – a yellow nape – they don’t seem to be notably intently associated.
Lastly, the Stripe-breasted Woodpecker has the somewhat unconvincing scientific identify Dendrocopos atratus, with atratus which means “clothed in morning” (or possibly “clothed in black”).
If I let you know that this woodpecker follows the usual woodpecker intercourse identification scheme …
… then I’m certain you’ll be able to intercourse the birds in these pictures.
And suppose you’re questioning how woodpeckers keep away from mind harm (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.