Sulu Pygmy Woodpecker Yungipicus ramsayi Scientific name definitions

13–14 cm. Male has dark brown forehead to crown, red over entire nape and along rear crown side, broad white supercilium from rear of eye to nape side, blackish-brown ear-coverts back to hindneck; buffish-brown upper lores, white lower lores and broad band through cheek to lower neck side, mid-brown malar stripe; chin and throat white; upperparts brown and unbarred, with broad, irregular white streaks on back, rump mostly white, small pale bars on inner webs of primaries; uppertail dark brown; underparts white, brownish breastband with yellow or golden border, a few faint grey-buff streaks on flanks and side of belly; fairly long bill slightly chisel-tipped, culmen almost straight, dark grey, slightly paler base; iris brown to brownish-red; legs brownish to greyish-olive. Female lacks red on head, has crown entirely brown. Juvenile is duller than adult, more dusky below.

This species, along with P. temminckii, P. kizuki, P. maculatus, P. canicapillus, P. nanus and P. moluccensis, was previously placed in Dendrocopos, but molecular studies indicate that they all form a separate clade of very small species, evidently sister to the P. tridactylus clade (1 Weibel, A. C., and W. S. Moore (2002). A test of a mitochondrial gene-based phylogeny of woodpeckers (genus Picoides) using an independent nuclear gene, β-Fibrinogen intron 7. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 22(2):247–257. Close , 2 Winkler, H., A. Gamauf, F. Nittinger, and E. Haring (2014). Relationships of Old World woodpeckers (Aves: Picidae) – new insights and taxonomic implications. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 116:69–86. Close ); all seven have been combined in Yungipicus by some authors. Closely related to P. temminckii. Usually considered conspecific with P. maculatus, but was separated fairly recently (3 Collar, N. J., N. A. D. Mallari, and B. R. Tabaranza (1999). Threatened Birds of the Philippines. BirdLife International, Haribon Foundation & Bookmark, Makati City & Manila. Close ) on characters that can be scored against nearest-neighbour P. m. fulvifasciatus as follows: mid-brown vs brownish-black general coloration (2); lack of white spotting on wings and coverts (3); soft grey-and-buff streaks below, including broad mid-brown malar, with ill-defined yellow breastband vs black-spotted breast on yellowish-cream background, with narrow white-spotted black malar (3); full orange-red nape vs small red nape-side patches on male (ns[2]). Proposed race siasiensis (Siasi I, in C Sulus) considered insufficiently distinct to warrant recognition. Monotypic.

Sulu Is (SW Philippines).

Little information. Presumably feeds on, or mainly on, invertebrates. Forages singly and in pairs; joins mixed-species flocks. Frequently forages on dead limbs and/or high up in tree foliage.

Rapid “kikikikikikiki”, rising at start, generally somewhat lower-pitched and louder than corresponding call of P. maculatus; few other details of vocalizations. Presumably drums, but little information available.

VULNERABLE. Generally rare. Estimated global population (based on known records, descriptions of abundance and range size) 2500–9999 mature individuals, equating to c. 3500–15,000 individuals in total, but even that may be overly optimistic. Confined to Sulu Archipelago, where known historically from eight islands, including Jolo, Siasi, Sanga-sanga and Sibutu (3 Collar, N. J., N. A. D. Mallari, and B. R. Tabaranza (1999). Threatened Birds of the Philippines. BirdLife International, Haribon Foundation & Bookmark, Makati City & Manila. Close ). The species had formerly been reported as being widespread and abundant, but by early 1970s was regarded as rare. It persists at a handful of sites on Tawitawi and fringing coralline islands. In 1998, this woodpecker, previously believed to be dependent on undisturbed forest, was found to survive outside dipterocarp forest, being recorded within Bardatal village, in bushes fringing mangrove, and in both heavily logged forest and less degraded forest; in 2008, a pair was seen in heavily degraded farm habitat. Despite its apparent tolerance of degraded habitats, however, its numbers have continued to decline rapidly within its tiny range, a situation believed to have been caused by widespread logging and forest clearance. By mid-1990s, extensive forest destruction, which has occurred throughout the Sulu Is, had resulted in rapid clearance of primary forest on Tawitawi, which had rendered remaining lowland patches highly degraded. Military activity and insurgency, while continuing to present a serious obstacle to general conservation activity in the Sulu Archipelago, may indirectly help to save habitat by inhibiting logging or mining operations. No sites or areas of habitat are formally protected in Sulu Is. Although a proposal to provide conservation funding for the Tawitawi/Sulu Coastal Area exists, likely benefits of this to present species are not known. In 1997, an awareness campaign, focusing on conservation of terrestrial biodiversity on Tawitawi, was initiated. There is an urgent need to conduct surveys of all remaining forest tracts in order to identify further key sites and to determine this woodpecker’s precise habitat requirements; formal protection should be afforded to any sites (including islet of Batu-batu) supporting populations, and rapid designation of further remnant forest patches as protected areas should be undertaken. Proposal for conservation funding for the Tawitawi/Sulu Coastal Area must be clarified and environmental-awareness programmes expanded.