© Andrew Whitehouse
© Alexander Viduetsky
© Nick Bonomo
© Yushi Oguchi

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker Yungipicus kizuki

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Identification

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Small black-and-white woodpecker with round-headed, short-billed profile. Both sexes have a pale, lightly streaked belly and white bars on the back, but only the male has a tiny red fleck at the back of the eyebrow. Often forages on thin twigs and outreaching branches too slender for other woodpeckers, hanging upside down like a tit or nuthatch. Slightly larger Gray-capped Woodpecker is longer-billed, with a buffy belly and different head pattern. Gives extremely high, thin “tsi tsi tsi” calls and a single quick, echoing drum.

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