Okinawa Woodpecker

Okinawa Woodpecker (Dendrocopos noguchii) is a medium-sized dark woodpecker endemic to Okinawa, with reddish-brown body plumage, pale spotting and a red crown in the male. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in mature subtropical forest, searching trunks, fallen wood and the ground for insects and other food and excavating nest holes in large trees. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).