Japanese Green Woodpecker
Picus awokera
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on John Cox's illustration · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPiciformes (Woodpeckers and Allies)
- FamilyPicidae (Woodpeckers)
- GenusPicus (Green Woodpeckers and Allies)
- SpeciesPicus awokera (Japanese Green Woodpecker)
About the Japanese Green Woodpecker
Japanese green woodpecker or Japanese woodpecker (Picus awokera) is a medium-sized woodpecker similar and closely related to the European green woodpecker, but endemic to Japan. This species reaches about 30 cm in length, with bright green wings and tail, a red or black mustache and crown (as opposed to the black face of the green woodpecker), gray head, neck, and chest, and white underparts with black markings.
The bill is yellow, the legs and feet are light gray colored. The iris is red. This woodpecker is loudly before and after the breeding season. Their known calls are an individually, loud and whip-crack-similar pijo, and a ket, ket with two syllables. They also drum, and these drumrolls are very fast and long.
This woodpecker is found in most big islands of Japan, and also smaller islands like Tobishima, Awashima, Sado and Tsushima. The total distribution area is as big as 281.000 km2. Japanese green woodpeckers live in the north in open mixed forests, in the south in warm-temperate evergreen forests, but also in parks and gardens. They avoid older coniferous monocultures. The species is in their occurrence... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Japanese Green Woodpecker in Nikko National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Nikko National Park
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Japanese Green Woodpecker in Nikko National Park?
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Green Woodpecker sighting in Nikko National Park, based on 133 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Japanese Green Woodpecker in Nikko National Park?
May has the highest sighting rate for Japanese Green Woodpecker in Nikko National Park in our monthly data.