A sizeable green woodpecker, characterized by a striking black-and-white scaly pattern that extends from the belly to the tail.
Meet the Scaly-bellied Woodpecker
“Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)” by gilgit2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The scaly-bellied woodpecker (Picus squamatus) measures approximately 35 cm in size and weighs between 156 to 194 g. The male boasts a striking appearance with a red forehead, crown, and nape, often showing dark feather bases with an orangey hue in a narrow wedge down the hindneck. He features black upper lores and a slender line along the side of the crown, while a white supercilium extends from above the eye to the side of the nape, accompanied by a narrow black eyestripe. The lower lores are yellowish-white, and the cheeks and ear-coverts take on an olive-grey shade, transitioning to greener or yellower tones on the neck’s side. A black malar stripe, streaked with whitish, adorns its face. The chin, throat, and breast are olive, with variable grey tinges. The upperparts are green, while the rump and uppertail-coverts display yellow hues, the latter with green bases. The flight-feathers and primary coverts are blackish-brown, with the secondaries and tertials featuring green outer webs, all adorned with whitish bars. The uppertail appears dark brown, barred buff-white, and the outer feathers show a strong green suffusion.
“Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)” by gilgit2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The female, on the other hand, has a shorter bill compared to the male, and her plumage is duller green. Her forehead to nape is black with grey streaks.
In contrast, the juvenile appears greyer than the adult, displaying a mix of grey and dull green above, a black hindneck, and an entire underpart pattern with less contrasting markings. The eyes of juveniles are brownish, and in the male, there is more black mixed in with the red of the crown.
“Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)” by gilgit2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. (cropped)
This bird is found in the Indian subcontinent and adjacent areas. Its range extends across countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan.
“Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)” by gilgit2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
These birds inhabit various environments, including coniferous and mixed coniferous forests, temperate deciduous tree forests, subtropical dry deciduous forests, and even arid areas, groves, orchards, or plantations, which provide both foraging and nesting sites. Large clearings in burned forests with ample dead and decaying trees are also suitable locations for them. They can be found at altitudes ranging from 600 m to 3700 m.
“Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)” by gilgit2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
When it comes to food habits, their diet includes ants, termites, larvae of wood-boring insects, and berries during the winter. The quetzals forage either singly, in pairs, or in family groups, pecking and hammering on trees, and they frequently descend to the ground. While on the ground, they move by hopping.
“scaly-bellied woodpecker” by Imran Shah is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In terms of breeding habits, they typically breed from April to June in India. Both male and female birds participate in excavating the nest, which can be found in a variety of tree species, such as holm oak, pistachio, apricot, tamarisk, or even exposed roots in a riverbank. The female lays a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs, and both parents take turns incubating them for a period of 17 days. After two weeks, the fully feathered chicks emerge at the hole entrance, and they are fed by regurgitation. For some time after fledging, the juveniles are accompanied by their parents.
“scaly-bellied woodpecker” by Imran Shah is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. (cropped)
The Scaly-bellied woodpecker is regarded as of Least Concern on the n IUCN Red List.
“Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)” by gilgit2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
