Lesser Yellownape

The lesser yellownape is a largish woodpecker about 27cm long, with green upperparts and a bright yellow tufted nape. The neck and breast are green, the belly whitish finely barred green, and the rump and tail blackish. The male has a green head with a white throat, red markings above the eye and on the nape, and red moustache stripes; the female has only a red patch above the ear coverts. Young birds are like females but duller, and peninsular Indian birds have greyer heads (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a forest bird that nests in a tree cavity, laying two to four white eggs. Like other woodpeckers it has a straight, pointed bill, a stiff tail that props it against trunks, two toes pointing forward and two back, and a long tongue that it darts out to catch insects. It is widespread and often common across tropical and subtropical Asia. In India it is a resident forest bird with a large range; SoIB 2023 finds its trends stable and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).