Alternative name: Japanese Green Woodpecker
- Picus awokera
Identification
Length 29–30 cm, weight 120–140 g
Bright green to greyish-green back, green to brownish-green wings and tail, green to yellow-green rump, grey head with a red or red-and-black moustache, grey neck, greyish-green chest, and black-and-white barred underparts. Males have a red crown and nape, females a grey crown with a small red patch on the nape. Bill grey with yellow base to lower mandible; legs grey; eye dark.
Similar species
Grey-headed Woodpecker, a rare winter visitor in northern Honshū, differs in having a black moustache, less red on the crown (forehead in males, no red in females), slightly paler, greyer back and wings, and a plain unbarred grey belly. It replaces Japanese Woodpecker fully on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō and further north and west across Asia.
Distribution
Endemic to most of Japan, from Honshū south to Tanegashima and Yakushima, but absent from Hokkaidō.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Different authorities treat Japanese Woodpecker as monotypic[1] or with two[2] or three[3] subspecies:
- P. a. awokera, the nominate subspecies, found on Honshū
- P. a. horii, native to Kyūshū
- P. a. takatsukasae, on the islands of Tanegashima and Yakushima
The binomial is a reference to the Japanese name of the species, "aogera".
Habitat
Widespread in open forests and woodland from sea level to 2,000 m; most common from 300–1400 m altitude. Has recently adapted to urban parks and gardens[1].
Behaviour
Diet
Like other species of Picus, feeds mainly on the ground, usually solitary. The diet consists mostly of ants.
References
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 2002. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334375
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2017. IOC World Bird Names (version 7.1). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Japanese Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Japanese_Woodpecker
