Buff-rumped woodpecker

Buff-rumped woodpecker
M. grammithorax
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Meiglyptes
Species:
M. grammithorax
Binomial name
Meiglyptes grammithorax
(Malherbe, 1862)

The buff-rumped woodpecker (Meiglyptes grammithorax) is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is native to Southeast Asia.[2]

History and Taxonomy

A specimen of M. grammithorax was included in a collection of twenty-one Sumatran bird specimens presented to Lord Edward Smith-Stanley in 1825 by Sir Stamford Raffles, who labelled it as a zebra woodpecker (then called Picus tristis). As of 2020 the original specimen was still held at the National Museums Liverpool.[3]

M. grammithorax was described as a distinct species in 1862 by the French magistrate and amateur naturalist Alfred Malherbe in his four-volume work Monographie des picidées.[4]

Morphology

The buff-rumped woodpecker has a small nuchal crest, black-and-white wings and fine barring on the belly. Males have a red "mustache" stripe. The buff-rumped woodpecker is distinguished by a prominent whitish-buff rump patch (though this is not always visible).[5][6]

The American ornithologist James Chapin noted that first primary feather in the juvenal (or juvenile) plumage of M. grammithorax was reduced, a feature not seen in the adult plumage. A similar reduction of one or more of the primary features was noted in several other species of woodpeckers.[7]

Distribution

M. grammithorax is found in southern Myanmar, Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo where it primarily occupies subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.[2] It was previously observed in Singapore but is thought to be locally extirpated due to habitat loss.[6]

Behavior

Buff-rumped woodpeckers often forage in pairs and have been observed joining mixed flocks with other insectivorous birds.[5] They have been observed leaf-gleaning and foraging for ants in the forest canopy.[5][6]

An observational study of banded woodpeckers conducted in 2025 noted a pair of buff-rumped woodpeckers repurposing and excavating an old nest-hole used by another species.[8]

Relationship to humans

The species is presumed to be threatened by the conversion of native forests in the Sundaic region to palm-oil and rubber plantations.[9]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Meiglyptes grammithorax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T22727206A94943601. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22727206A94943601.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Gill, F; Donsker, D; Rasmussen, P, eds. (2023). IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). doi:10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2.
  3. ↑ Wilson, John-James (2021-03-09). "Birds from Sumatra given by Sir Stamford Raffles to Lord Stanley: links to names, types and drawings". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. 141 (1). doi:10.25226/bboc.v141i1.2021.a4. ISSN 0007-1595.
  4. ↑ Malherbe, Alfred (1862). Monographie des picidées, ou Histoire naturelle des picidés, picumninés, yuncinés ou torcols; comprenant dans la première partie, l’origine mythologique, les mœurs, les migrations, l’anatomie, la physiologie, la répartition géographique, les divers systèmes de classification de ces oiseaux grimpeurs zygodactyles, ainsi qu’un dictionnaire alphabétique des auteurs et des ouvrages cités par abréviation; dans la deuxième partie, la synonymie, la description en latin et en français, l’histoire de chaque espèce, ainsi qu’un dictionnaire alphabétique et synonymique latin de toutes les espèces. Vol. t.2. Typ. de J. Verronnais.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. 1 2 3 "Buff-rumped Woodpecker - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  6. 1 2 3 Limparungpatthanakij, Wich'yanan (2023). "Buff-rumped Woodpecker (Meiglyptes grammithorax), version 2.1". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.burwoo1.02.1. ISSN 2771-3105.
  7. ↑ Chapin, James P. (October 1921). "The Abbreviated Inner Primaries of Nestling Woodpeckers". The Auk. 38 (4): 531–552. doi:10.2307/4073626.
  8. ↑ Amar-Singh, HSS; Siew-Yoong, Khoo (Connie); Kuan-Yaow, Poon; Sein-Chiong, Chiu (March 2025). "Breeding Ecology of the Banded Woodpecker" (PDF). Malaysian Bird Report. 1/2025: 18–26.
  9. ↑ "Buff-rumped Woodpecker Meiglyptes grammithorax Species Factsheet". BirdLife DataZone. Retrieved 2026-06-09.


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