White-naped Woodpecker - BirdForum Opus

Nominate subspecies, male
Photo © by drkishore
Srisailam Tiger Reserve, India, 1 March 2019

Identification

Subspecies C. f. tantus, male
Photo © by Swift
Photographed in Sri Lanka.

29 cm (11½ in)

White hind-neck extends down the back
Black shoulder patches continue onto the back to form a V-shape bordering the white
Golden-yellow upperparts and wings
Black rump and tail
White underparts with dark chevron markings
White head
Dark moustachial stripe
Black eye patch that extends down the neck sides

Adult male: red crown
Adult female: yellow crown
Young birds: similar to the female, but duller.

Asia: found in Nepal, peninsula India and Sri Lanka..

Subspecies C. f. tantus, female
Photo © by martinuk
Tissamaharama Tank, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, March 2015

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

Light deciduous forests and scrub. Also cultivated areas with scattered trees.

Their diet consists of ants and wood-boring insect larva. They also eat seeds and fruit.

It nests in a tree hole. The clutch consists of 1-2 white eggs.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2015)

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-naped Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-naped_Woodpecker