Brown-faced woodpecker [1] ( lat. Leiopicus auriceps ) is a medium-sized woodpecker . Distributed in the foothills and lower belt of the Himalayas in Afghanistan , Pakistan , India and Nepal . It was described by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors in 1831. It was originally called Picus auriceps , but subsequently the generic affiliation of this species changed several times. According to a molecular study conducted in 2014 by a group of German scientists, it is a sister taxon in relation to the middle spotted woodpecker . According to the results of the audit of woodpeckers of the Old World, both of these taxa, as well as yellow-caped woodpecker, were placed in the genus Leiopicus [2] . The species name auriceps comes from the Latin word aurum ( gold ) and the suffix -ceps , which was added to the words with the meaning of crowned or covered on the head [3] .
| Brown-headed woodpecker |
Male |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Subfamily : | Real woodpeckers |
| View: | Brown-headed woodpecker |
|
| International scientific name |
|---|
Leiopicus auriceps ( Vigors , 1831) |
| Synonyms |
|---|
- Picus auriceps
- Picoides auriceps
- Dendrocopos auriceps
|
| Security status |
|---|
Least ConcernedIUCN 3.1 Least Concern : 22681079 |
|
Content
Small woodpecker, inferior in size to the middle speckled woodpecker : length 19β20 cm, weight 37β50 g [4] . Eastern populations are smaller than western ones, but the decrease in size is smooth (clinal), which does not allow us to divide them into subspecies. Beak of medium length, chisel-like, with a wide base and slightly upturned. The motley black and white coloring of the back and wings against the background of a light bottom and a colorful βcapβ combines this look with mottled woodpeckers , in connection with which some ornithologists traditionally include it in this group. The name was given due to the yellowish-brown color of the forehead, which is characteristic of both sexes and is not found in other closely related species (in a similar yellow-caped woodpecker, it is lighter golden yellow). The male and female differ in color of the rest of the upper part of the head: the male has a bright lemon-yellow crown and red nape, while the female and crown, and the nape are darker and plain yellow. White cheeks and chin adorn the black "mustache" from the base of the beak to the side of the neck and then down to the chest, and black spots on the covering ears. Chests and belly dirty white with numerous dark longitudinal strokes. The undertail is pinkish-red [4] [5] .
The main area of ββthe range is located in a narrow strip of the western part of the Himalayan mountains from the Afghan province of Nuristan east to Nepal . It nests in isolation in the north of the Pakistani province of Balochistan . It inhabits plain and mountain coniferous and mixed pine-oak forests at an altitude of 2100-2400 m above sea level, and occasionally appears higher. Often settles in a park zone of settlements. Leads a sedentary lifestyle, but in severe winters can migrate to nearby valleys. In some places an ordinary bird [6] [5] [7] .
It feeds on animals and plant foods: wood insects, including caterpillars and beetle larvae, berries, pine seeds and other fruits. It does not form intraspecific groups, but it is often found in the company of tits and long-tailed larvae ( Pericrocotus ) [4] .
Breeds from April to July. To arrange the nest, it plucks a hollow in the trunk or a thick branch of a rotted tree at a height of 2 to 12 m (in most cases, not higher than 8 m). Coniferous and deciduous species are used, in particular the elm Ulmus wallichiana . The number of eggs is usually 4, occasionally 3 or 5. Chicks are fed by both parents [8] .
- β Boehme R. L. , Flint V. E. The Bilingual Dictionary of Animal Names. Birds. Latin, Russian, English, German, French / Ed. ed. Acad. V. E. Sokolova . - M .: Rus. lang., "RUSSO", 1994. - S. 196. - 2030 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00643-0 .
- β Winkler et al., 2014 .
- β Jobling, 1992 , p. 23.
- β 1 2 3 Winkler & Christie, 2002 , p. 477.
- β 1 2 Winkler et al., 1995 , p. 260.
- β Winkler & Christie, 2002 , p. 477β478.
- β Clements, 2007 .
- β Winkler & Christie, 2002 , p. 478.
- Clements, James F. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. - Comstock Publishing Associates, 2007. - 864 p. - ISBN 0801445019 .
- Jobling, James A. A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. - United States: Oxford University Press, 1992. - ISBN 0198546343 .
- Winkler, Hans; Christie, David; Nurney, David. Woodpeckers: An Identification Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World. - Houghton Mifflin, 1995 .-- ISBN 0395720435 . (eng.)
- Winkler, Hans; Christie, David A. Family Picidae (Woodpeckers) / del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds .. - Handbook of the birds of the world. - Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, 2002 .-- T. 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. - ISBN 978-8487334375 . (eng.)
- Winkler, H .; Gamauf, A .; Nittinger, F .; Haring, E. Relationships of Old World woodpeckers (Aves: Picidae) - new insights and taxonomic implications // Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B. - 2014 .-- T. 116 . - S. 69-86 .
