The checker-throated woodpecker, checker-throated yellownape, or Javan yellownape is a species of bird in the family Picidae native to Southeast Asia.
Region
Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and nearby islands, with local occurrence in southern Thailand and Singapore. It inhabits primary and secondary evergreen forest, swamp forest, and forest edge, often using mixed and hill forests. Birds forage from the lower to mid-canopy on trunks and large branches, and will enter bamboo or degraded woodland where mature trees remain. It can persist in selectively logged forests and along streams and ridges within forest mosaics.
Altitude Range
0–1600 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the checker-throated yellownape or Javan yellownape, this woodpecker is a quiet forest resident that communicates with sharp calls and drumming. It helps control wood-boring insects such as ants and termites. Males typically show a small red malar (moustachial) patch absent in females. It tolerates secondary growth but declines where mature forest is extensively lost.
Temperament
wary and unobtrusive
Flight Pattern
undulating with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly or in pairs, sometimes with mixed-species flocks in the mid-story. Monogamous pairs excavate a nest cavity in a dead trunk or large limb, with both sexes participating. Clutch is small and both parents incubate and feed the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Calls are sharp, repeated notes and chitters delivered from perches within the mid-canopy. Drumming is relatively soft and short, used for communication and territory advertisement.
Plumage
Olive-green upperparts with darker wings and barred tail; underparts buff to olive with fine barring. Throat shows a distinctive black-and-white checkered pattern. The nape is yellow, contrasting with the olive head. Males have a small red malar stripe; females lack red and appear plainer in the face.
Diet
Primarily feeds on ants, termites, and beetle larvae extracted from bark, dead wood, and epiphyte mats. It probes, pecks, and pries to reach concealed prey, occasionally gleaning from surfaces. Small fruits and other invertebrates may be taken opportunistically.
Preferred Environment
Forages on trunks and large branches of living and dead trees in lowland and hill forests. Frequently uses edges, streamside trees, and semi-open forest with scattered large trees. In disturbed areas it concentrates on remnant mature trees and snags.
