Greater Yellownape - BirdForum Opus

Nominate subspecies : male
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Hill Station Ranikhet, Alt. 6800 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 3 April 2018

Chrysophlegma flavinucha

Picus flavinucha

Identification

33–34 cm (13-13½ in)
Large size with golden yellow nuchal crest and dark brown flight feathers marked with black bars diagnostic. Upperparts olive green, tail black, underparts greyish, crown dark brown, sides of head greyish brown.
Male: Creamy yellow throat and malar area with small area of white with dark spots below throat.
Female: Throat and malar area brown, white area with dark spots below throat more extensive.

Distribution

Nominate subspecies : female
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Sattal, Alt. 5500 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 14 November 2019

The Himalayas and southern China through south-eastern Asia to Sumatra.

Taxonomy

This species was formerly placed in the genus Picus.

Subspecies

Subspecies P.f. wrayi : female
Photo © by kctsang
Frasers' Hill, Malaysia, 24 September 2009

There are 8 subspecies^[1]:

C. f. kumaonense:

Himalayan foothills of northernmost India (Uttarakhand) and possibly to western Nepal

C. f. flavinucha:

Foothills from central Nepal to northeastern and eastern India (south to Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh) and east to Myanmar, southern China (southern Sichuan, Yunnan) and northern Vietnam

C. f. styani:

Hainan Island and immediately adjacent mainland China

C. f. ricketti:

North Vietnam (Tonkin) to south-eastern China (Fujian)

C. f. pierrei:

South-eastern Thailand to southern Vietnam

C. f. mystacalis:

Northern Sumatra

C. f. korinchi:

South-western Sumatra

C. f. wrayi:

Highlands of Malay Peninsula

Habitat

Montane and sub-montane evergreen and deciduous forests and forest edges up to 900 m.

Behaviour

Usualy frequents the canopy and middle storey. Solitary, some times in small loose groups. Very noisy and conspicuous.

Diet

Theit diet consists of beets, ants, termites and larva.

Breeding

The nest hole is excavated by both adults generally about 6 m up in a tree. The clutch contains 2-4 eggs. Incubation and feeding of the young are shared by both the parents.

Vocalisation

Recording © by Alok Tewari
A pair giving clicking calls while feeding, 10.30 am/ nominate subspecies
Ranikhet Hill Station, altitude 6500 feet, Almora, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 31 October 2023

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Winkler, H. and D. A. Christie (2020). Greater Yellownape (Chrysophlegma flavinucha), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.greyel1.01

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Greater Yellownape. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Greater_Yellownape

External Links

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