Arabian woodpecker
| Arabian woodpecker | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Genus: | Dendrocoptes |
| Species: | D. dorae |
| Binomial name | |
|
Dendrocoptes dorae (Bates & Kinnear, 1935) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Dendropicos dorae |
|
Dendropicos dorae
Dendrocopos dorae
The Arabian woodpecker (Dendrocoptes dorae) is a species of woodpecker found in the Arabian Peninsula, primarily in southwestern Saudi Arabia and Yemen, in areas of montane forest. It is the only woodpecker that breeds on the Arabian Peninsula.
This species was first described in 1935 by the American naturalist George Latimer Bates and the Scottish zoologist Norman Boyd Kinnear, the scientific name being proposed by their occasional co-worker, the British Arabist St John Philby, in honour of his wife Dora.
Some taxonomic authorities continue to place the species in Dendrocopos, while others place it genus Dendropicos.
The Arabian woodpecker grows to a length of about 18 cm (7 in). The male has a brownish or pale grey head with a bright red patch on the crown and nape. The back, wings and tail are olive-grey to brown streaked with white, and the wings are barred with white. The underparts are grey streaked with white and the belly has the central area suffused with red. The female is similar but lacks the red crown patch. The call has been rendered as "pweek pit-pit-pit-pit-pit-pit-pit-ptptpt" and the bird occasionally drums on branches.
The species is endemic to the mountains and foothills of the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula, being restricted to southwestern Saudi Arabia and western Yemen. It is found in a range of woodland habitats including, at lower altitudes, patches of Ficus, date palm and Pandanus. It is present in evergreen riparian forested corridors, on shading trees in coffee plantations, in orchards, on terraced cropland with isolated trees, and in woods and spinneys of Acacia, juniper, olive and Dracaena. Its altitudinal range is from sea level to 2,800 m (9,200 ft) but it probably only breeds between about 400 and 2,400 m (1,300 and 7,900 ft).
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