The white-bellied woodpecker or great black woodpecker is a woodpecker species inhabiting evergreen forests in tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is among the largest of the Asiatic woodpeckers and nests in large dead trees, often beside rivers. It has 14 subspecies, and many of its island forms are endangered, some are extinct. Populations differ in the distribution and extent of white. Its drums and calls are louder than those of the smaller woodpeckers.
Region
South and Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Primarily inhabits mature evergreen and moist deciduous forests across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka, the Malay Peninsula, and the Greater Sunda Islands. It requires large-diameter trees for nesting and foraging, favoring tracts with abundant deadwood and snags. Frequently uses riparian corridors and forest edges where big trees persist. Tolerant of selectively logged forests if large old trees remain, but declines in heavily fragmented landscapes.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
One of the largest Asian woodpeckers, it favors big, old trees and often nests in tall dead snags, frequently near rivers. Its loud, resonant drumming carries far through the forest and can be mistaken for ax blows. Island subspecies vary in the extent of white on the underparts; several insular forms are highly threatened or already extinct. It is sometimes called the great black woodpecker in Asia, not to be confused with the Eurasian black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius).
Male, the Philippines
Tristram's woodpecker (D. j. richardsi)
Temperament
wary and territorial
Flight Pattern
strong, undulating flight with deep wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or family groups defending large territories. Both sexes excavate deep nest cavities in large dead or living trees with decayed heartwood. Clutch size is small and both parents share incubation and feeding. Pairs often reuse or enlarge cavities across years if suitable trees remain.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Calls are loud, ringing notes and harsh kek-kek or kyik-kyik series that carry through the canopy. Drumming is powerful, rapid, and resonant, often delivered on hollow trunks and snags.
Plumage
Glossy black upperparts and head contrasting with a broad white belly and vent; extent of white varies by subspecies. Wings and tail are black; plumage appears sleek with minimal barring. Males show a red crest, while females have a blackish crest.
Diet
Feeds mainly on wood-boring beetle larvae, ants, and termites extracted from dead or decaying wood. Uses powerful blows to chisel into trunks and large branches, then probes with a long sticky tongue. Will also glean insects from bark surfaces and occasionally take fruits or other invertebrates when available.
Preferred Environment
Forages on large dead trees, snags, and fallen logs within mature forest. Often works mid-story to canopy but will descend to lower trunks and stumps along rivers and trails.
