The orange-backed woodpecker is a bird in the woodpecker family Picidae, found in southern Thailand, Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, Brunei, Sumatra, and Java. It is the only member of the genus Reinwardtipicus. It is a forest specialist that is found primarily in the canopy.
Region
Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Thailand through Peninsular Malaysia to the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei). It favors primary and well-structured secondary lowland and hill dipterocarp forests. The species is most often encountered in the mid- to upper canopy and along large trunks and dead branches. It may use selectively logged forests where mature trees and snags remain. Forest fragmentation and extensive lowland clearance can reduce local occurrence.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This is the sole member of the genus Reinwardtipicus and is a canopy specialist of Sundaic forests. It spends much of its time high in the mid- to upper canopy, where it forages quietly along large limbs and trunks. Its bright orange back makes it distinctive among Southeast Asian woodpeckers. Like others in its family, it communicates with sharp calls and resonant drumming.
Temperament
shy and canopy-oriented
Flight Pattern
bounding with short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or as a family group. Nests are excavated in dead or decaying wood, often high above the ground. Both adults likely participate in cavity excavation and provisioning of young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives sharp, ringing notes and chatters that carry through the canopy. Also drums on resonant trunks and branches; drumming is a short, firm roll used for territory and communication.
Plumage
Unmistakable bright orange to rufous mantle and back contrasting with darker head, wings, and tail; underparts are dusky with fine barring or mottling. Feathers are firm and compact with typical woodpecker structure suited to chiseling. The wings show pale barring on the coverts and flight feathers.
Diet
Primarily feeds on wood-boring beetle larvae, ants, termites, and other insects gleaned or excavated from bark and deadwood. Probes crevices and scales bark to expose prey. Will occasionally take other arthropods and larvae found under loose bark or in rotten limbs.
Preferred Environment
Forages on large branches, trunks, and snags in the mid- to upper canopy of mature forest. Frequently uses dead limbs and vine tangles where insect activity is high.
