Stripe-breasted Woodpecker

About the Stripe-breasted Woodpecker

The stripe-breasted woodpecker (Dendrocopos atratus) is a species of bird in the woodpecker family, Picidae. It is found in Southeast Asia within subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

The species was first described in 1849 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth, who was curator of the museum of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. He named it Dryobates atratus, but it was later transferred to the genus Dendrocopos. It forms a species-pair with the fulvous-breasted woodpecker (Dendrocopos macei). Birds in Vietnam are sometimes considered to be a separate race, vietnamensis, but the evidence for this is unconvincing.

Adult length is between 21 and 22 cm (8.3 and 8.7 in). The upper parts are black heavily barred with white, with the mantle being unbarred. The upper tail is black with some white markings on the outer feathers. The crown and nape are red in the male and black in the female. The face is whitish with a black moustache which unites with a stripe on the edge of the breast. The throat, breast and belly are greyish-yellow or greyish-buff, boldly streaked with black. The under... Wikipedia →