White-bellied Woodpecker

White-bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis) is a very large Asian woodpecker with mostly black upperparts, a contrasting white belly and red crest markings. 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 inhabits tropical evergreen forest, often near rivers, excavating nest cavities in large dead trees and using its powerful bill to reach ants and wood-boring insects; populations vary in the extent of white plumage. 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).