The is a woodpecker endemic to the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan.

Taxonomy

Other common names for this species are Noguchi's woodpecker, Okinawan woodpecker, Pryer's woodpecker and Ryukyu woodpecker. It was previously placed in the monotypic genus Sapheopipo, but mtDNA analysis has shown that this species is actually embedded within the Dendrocopos genus, closely related to the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and white-backed woodpecker (D. leucotos).

Description

This is a medium-sized (31 cm), dark woodpecker. It is dark brown in color with red-tipped feathers. It has white spots on the primaries. The head is a paler brown, with a dark red crown on the male and a blackish-brown one on the female. The call is a sharp whit call and a variable kyu-kyu kup kup kup or kyu kyu kup.

Diet and foraging

The Okinawa woodpecker prefers to forage nearer to the ground, mostly below 5 metres (16 ft). It clings firmly to bark with its zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two toes back) and uses its stiff tail feathers to brace itself against the tree as it strikes with its beak, repeatedly hammering at trunks, stumps, and bamboo stalks — leaving them pitted with holes 3 to 4 centimetres (~1.5 in) deep — as it excavates boring insects and their larvae.

Its diet consists of large arthropods, moths, centipedes, beetle larvae, spiders, and even gecko nestlings. It will occasionally forage for fruits, berries, acorns, other nuts, and seeds. located about 9.5 km Southwest of the Yanbaru forest of Takae. The lives of the birds themselves are also put at risk by the flights of V-22 Ospreys over the island.

References

  • BirdLife Species Factsheet
  • Image and Classification at Animal Diversity Web