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| Syrian woodpecker | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Genus: | Dendrocopos |
| Species: | D. syriacus |
| Binomial name | |
| Dendrocopos syriacus | |
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| Syrian Woodpecker range [2] | |
The Syrian woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) is a member of the woodpecker family, the Picidae.
The Syrian woodpecker was first described as Picus syriacus by Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1833, from a specimen collected on Mount Lebanon. [3]
The woodpecker is a resident breeding bird from southeastern Europe east to Iran. Its range has expanded further northwest into Europe in recent years. It is an inhabitant of open woodlands, cultivation with trees and scrubs, and parks, depending for food and nesting sites upon old trees. It is often an inconspicuous bird, in spite of the plumage. [3]
The woodpecker is 23 cm long, and is very similar to the great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major. The upper parts of the male are glossy black, with a crimson spot on the nape and white on the forehead, sides of the face and neck. On the shoulder is a large white patch and the flight feathers are black with white spots forming three wingbars. The three outer tail feathers show only a few white spots; these show when the short stiff tail is outspread, acting as a support in climbing. The under parts are buffish white, the abdomen and under tail coverts reddish. The long bill is slate black and the legs greenish grey. [3] The female has no crimson on the nape, and in the young this nape spot is absent, but the crown is crimson.
It differs from the smaller lesser spotted woodpecker by the crimson on the abdomen and the white shoulder-patches. It is much harder to distinguish Syrian woodpecker from great spotted woodpecker. Syrian has a longer bill, has more white on the head, and lacks the white tail barring of great spotted. [3]
When hidden by the foliage, the Syrian woodpecker's presence is often advertised by the mechanical drumming, a vibrating rattle, produced by the rapidly repeated blows of its strong bill upon a trunk or branch. This is not merely a mating call or challenge, but a signal of either sex. It is audible from a great distance, depending on the wind and the condition of the wood, and a hollow bough naturally produces a louder note than living wood. The drumming is longer than great spotted woodpecker's, and decreases in volume. It is faster and shorter than the drumming of white-backed woodpecker. The call is a sharp quit, quit, softer than great spotted woodpecker, and something like common redshank.
The Syrian woodpecker's food mainly consists of those insects which bore into the timber of forest trees, such as the larvae of wood boring moths and beetles. Additional prey includes bees such as Xylocopa pubescens . [4] The woodpecker usually alights on the trunk, working upwards. During the ascent it taps the bark, breaking off fragments, but often extracts its prey from crevices with the tip of its sticky tongue. Seeds, nuts and berries are eaten when insect food is scarce. Its actions are jerky, and it hops rather than climbs, leaping forward with one foot just in advance of the other. Usually feeding in a vertically 'heads-up" position , it is not uncommon for the woodpecker to assume a vertically or horizontally upside-down attitude while probing a tree for food. When a space is crossed the flight is easy and undulating. The Syrian woodpecker attacks polyethylene pipes of both sprinkler and drip irrigation systems in Israel [Moran, S. 1977. Distribution and characteristics of the damage of the Syrian woodpecker, Dendrocopos syriacus (Hemp. & Ehr.) (Aves: Picidae), in polyethylene irrigation pipes in fruit orchards. Phytoparasitica, 5: 127-139]. It pecks holes that are 2-10 mm (mostly 5-8 mm) in diameter, and are usually well rounded. Damage to pipes is frequent in plots of avocado, citrus and grapevines bordered by rows of windbreakers, with pipes near winbreaker being the most severely attecked. The holes in the irrigation pipes lead to a fall in the water pressure which in turn reduces the amount of water emitted at various sections along the irrigation line. The reason for birds' pecking at the pipe is not clear.
The neat, round 5 cm diameter nesting hole, is bored in soft or decaying wood horizontally for a few inches, then perpendicularly down. At the bottom of the shaft, a small chamber is excavated, where up to 11 creamy white eggs are laid on wood chips. The hole is rarely used again, but not infrequently other holes are bored in the same tree. Almost any tree sufficiently rotten is used. The young, when the parents are feeding them, cluster at the mouth of the hole and keep a continuous chatter, but when alarmed slip back into the hole.
The great spotted woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recent recolonisation of Ireland and to vagrancy to North America. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; like other woodpeckers, they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. This species is similar to the Syrian woodpecker.
The lesser spotted woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus Dendrocopos. Some taxonomic authorities continue to list the species there.
The European green woodpecker is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker.
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti.
The red-bellied woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the family Picidae. It breeds mainly in the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far north as Canada. Though it has a vivid orange-red crown and nape it is not to be confused with the red-headed woodpecker, a separate species of woodpecker in the same genus with an entirely red head and neck that sports a solid black back and white belly. The red-bellied earns its name from the pale reddish blush of its lower underside.
The middle spotted woodpecker is a European woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocoptes.
The white-backed woodpecker is a Eurasian woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocopos.
Levaillant's woodpecker or Levaillant's green woodpecker, is a large African member of the woodpecker family Picidae.
The striped woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.
The Arabian woodpecker or Sarat woodpecker, is a bird species of the family Picidae, native to the Sarawat Mountains of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It is the only woodpecker that breeds on the Arabian Peninsula.
The Japanese pygmy woodpecker or pygmy woodpecker is a species of woodpecker. It is found in coniferous and deciduous forests in Russia, China, Korea and Japan. This species has also been placed in the genus Dendrocopos or Picoides. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.
The Hispaniolan woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
The Knysna woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to South Africa, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. It belongs to a species complex that includes the golden-tailed and Mombasa woodpeckers.
The stripe-breasted woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family, Picidae. It is found in Southeast Asia within subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The crimson-breasted woodpecker or scarlet-breasted woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Some taxonomic authorities continue to place this species in the genus Dendrocopos. The scarlet-breasted woodpecker, is considered to be distinct by some authorities, but others consider it to be conspecific.
The Darjeeling woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the Himalayas, and in some adjoining areas.
The Himalayan woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, primarily the Himalayas and some adjoining areas, and ranges across Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and temperate forests. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The rufous-bellied woodpecker or rufous-bellied sapsucker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. This woodpecker has a habit of making a series of small pits on the bark of trees leading to its being considered an Asiatic member of the sapsuckers in the past. It is found along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Manchuria, Ussuriland and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The ashy woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is endemic to Sulawesi and surrounding islands in Indonesia. There are two subspecies, the nominate race M. f. fulvus, which is found in northern Sulawesi, the islands of Lembeh and Manterawu, and the archipelagos of Togian and Banggai; and M. f. wallacei, from southern Sulawesi and the islands of Muna and Buton. The second subspecies is named for the collector and scientist Alfred Russel Wallace.
The Red-backed flameback, Lesser Sri Lanka flameback, Sri Lanka red-backed woodpecker or Ceylon red-backed woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka, only absent in the far-north. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Black-rumped flameback.
