Great Slaty Woodpecker

The great slaty woodpecker is the largest confirmed living woodpecker, behind only the likely extinct imperial and ivory-billed woodpeckers. It is unmistakable, with a very long, strong chisel-tipped bill, an elongated neck and a long tail. In one study the average weight was about 430 g. It is found across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal to Indonesia and the Philippines (Wikipedia, general species account).

It usually occurs below 600 m but also locally in montane areas up to 1,100 m, occasionally to 2,000 m. Known nests are in very large trees, 9–45 m up. The call is a whinnying cackle of two to five, usually four, notes, the first higher and the middle one distinctly lower, and pairs have been heard mewing softly to each other. Small fruit occasionally supplements the diet. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority, a resident forest bird with a Restricted range of about 29,300 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).