The yellow-crowned woodpecker (''Leiopicus mahrattensis'') or Mahratta woodpecker is a species of small pied

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

found in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Leiopicus''.

Taxonomy

The yellow-crowned woodpecker was originally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Picus mahrattensis''. It is now the only species placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Leiopicus'' that was introduced by the French ornithologist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

in 1854. The specific epithet ''mahrattensis'' is from

Marhatta Dhangar is a herding caste of people found in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. They are referred as Gavli in southern Maharashtra, Goa and northern Karnataka, Golla in Andhra Pradesh and Karna ...

, a historical region in the modern Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. The genus name ''Leiopicus'' combines the

Classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''leios'' meaning "smooth" or "beardless" and ''pikos'' meaning "woodpecker". The yellow-crowned woodpecker is closely related to the woodpeckers in the genus '' Dendrocoptes''.

Description

A medium-small (17.5 cm, 6.9 inches, 28-46 grams, 1–1.6 ounces), pale-headed, pied woodpecker. Upper-parts black, heavily spotted and barred white. Underparts dark, streaked dingy white with red belly patch. Irregular brown cheek and neck patches. Female has yellowish crown and nape. In male nape scarlet and fore-crown yellow.

References

yellow-crowned woodpecker Birds of South Asia Birds of Cambodia Birds of Laos Birds of Myanmar yellow-crowned woodpecker {{woodpecker-stub