Rufous-bellied Woodpecker

The rufous-bellied woodpecker ranges in length from about 19 to 23 cm (7.5 to 9.1 in). The male has a red crown while the female has a black crown, speckled with white. Both sexes have a black mantle and back, while the wings are black barred with white. The upper tail is black, with some white barring on the outer two pairs of feathers. The face is white and the throat and underparts are a uniform cinnamon or rufous. The lower belly is black barred with white and the under-tail converts are red or pink. The iris is chestnut, the upper mandible of the beak is black and the lower mandible grey, and the legs are grey or olive.

It has a tongue that has a brushy tip that allows it to feed on sap. Sap is predominantly sought in the spring season while wood-boring and bark insects are taken at most other times. The trees that they use include Quercus semecarpifolia, Quercus glauca, Betula utilis, Ilex dipyrena and Rhododendrons. The same trees may be used for the extraction of sap from year to year resulting in changes to the tree shape. The sap from the wells made by the woodpecker are also visited by other bird species which include the rufous sibia, white-browed fulvetta, rufous-winged fulvetta, hoary-throated barwing, chestnut-tailed minla, blue-winged minla, several warblers, green-backed tit, yellow-browed tit, white-tailed nuthatch and green-tailed sunbird.