The Rufous woodpecker is known for building its nest within the nest of acrobat ants.
The rufous woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus) is a medium-sized brown woodpecker found in South and Southeast Asia. It is short-billed, foraging in pairs on small insects, particularly ants and termites, in scrub, evergreen, and deciduous forests and is noted for building its nest within the carton nests of arboreal ants in the genus Crematogaster.
It was for some time placed in the otherwise Neotropical genus Celeus but this is a case of evolutionary convergence and molecular phylogenetic studies support its placement in the monotypic genus Micropternus.
A woodpecker that is almost the same size or a little larger than a Myna, this bird’s entire body is dark, chestnut-rufescent in colour, and crossed with fine black bars or vermiculations on the wings, tail and upper parts, and, to a lesser extent on the underparts. This bird has a dark eye patch, a red iris, throat feathers with pale edges, and brown feet. Sexes are similar in appearance except that females have a slightly lighter colour around the eyes in contrast to the red patch found just below and behind the eye of males. The bill of the bird is black in colour, short and slightly curved. This is perfectly suited to the repetitive drumming action that is distinctive of the bird. Pairs are often sighted in thin deciduous forests.
This was photographed at Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, India.
K. Shiva Kumar. Wildlife StorytellerThese rare photographs have been clicked and contributed by K. Shiva Kumar, a professional Wildlife Storyteller (M.A in Journalism & Mass Communication, an alumnus of Central University Of Odisha, Koraput) from Hyderabad, Telangana.
K. Shiva, is passionate about wildlife conservation. Through his work, he hopes to inspire greater appreciation for the wildlife that shares our planet and encourages conservation action.
