The heart-spotted woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family. It has a contrasting black and white plumage, a distinctively stubby body and a large wedge-shaped head making it easy to identify while its frequent calling make it easy to detect as it forage for invertebrates under the bark of the slender outer branches of trees. They move about in pairs or small groups and are often found in mixed-species foraging flocks. They have a wide distribution across Asia with populations in the forests of southwestern and central India which are slightly separated from their ranges in the Himalayas and Southeast Asia.
Region
South and Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from peninsular and central India and the Himalayan foothills through Bangladesh and Myanmar to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It inhabits moist evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, mature moist deciduous woodland, and well-wooded edges, including bamboo and mixed plantations. Most activity is in the canopy and subcanopy where it gleans and probes twigs and small branches. It tolerates selectively logged forest but is less common in very open or heavily degraded habitats.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Named for the bold, heart-shaped white patches on its black back, the heart-spotted woodpecker is a tiny, stubby-tailed woodpecker with a big head and short chisel bill. It often forages on the slender outer branches where heavier woodpeckers seldom go, frequently joining mixed-species flocks. Pairs keep in contact with sharp calls and soft drumming, and they nest in small cavities in dead stubs or branch trunks.
Female heart spotted woodpecker on a fig tree at Dandeli tiger reserve, India
Female
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
undulating flight with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen in pairs or small family groups and frequently participates in mixed-species foraging flocks in the canopy. Territorial displays include soft drumming and calling. Nests are excavated in small cavities of dead branches; both sexes likely share nest duties.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives sharp, high-pitched peeps and whistled notes that carry through the canopy, often in rapid series. Drumming is brief and subdued compared to larger woodpeckers.
Plumage
Striking black-and-white woodpecker with very short tail and a large wedge-shaped head; upperparts glossy black with prominent white heart-shaped spots on the mantle/shoulders; underparts pale with fine dark markings.
Diet
Feeds mainly on ants, beetles, and other small insects and their larvae taken from bark crevices and dead wood on slender branches. It gleans and probes rather than heavy hammering, using its short bill to pick prey. Occasionally takes small arthropods from leaf clusters and may sample small fruits opportunistically.
Preferred Environment
Forages high in the subcanopy and canopy of mature forest, along edges, and in well-wooded groves and plantations. Often follows mixed flocks, moving methodically along twigs and outer boughs.
