The northern sooty woodpecker (''Mulleripicus funebris'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Picidae 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. ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...

and the

Polillo Islands The Polillo Islands is a group of about 27 islands in the Philippine Sea lying about to the east of the Philippine island of Luzon. It is separated from the mainland Luzon Island by the Polillo Strait and forms the northern side of Lamon Bay. ...

in the Philippines. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s and tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s. The northern sooty woodpecker was once considered conspecific with the southern sooty woodpecker and both were lumped together as ''Mulleripicus funebris'' and known simply as the "sooty woodpecker".

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A large woodpecker of foothill forest on Luzon and neighboring islands. Entirely black with a long-pointed tail, fine speckling on the neck, pale eyes, and a yellow bill. Male has a reddish face. Males on Polillo have a gray crown. Occurs together with White-bellied Woodpecker and Luzon Flameback, but has a dark belly. Voice includes a loud, quavering squeal. Gives powerful drums. They exhibit

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

in which males have red facial markings. They are typically seen alone or as a pair and presumed to feed mainly on invertebrates. The breeding season is reported as March to May. Both the southern sooty woodpecker and the northern sooty woodpecker were previously considered to be subspecies of the same species, ''Mulleripicus funebris'', known simply as the "sooty woodpecker". They were split as distinct species by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

in 2021. The Northern sooty differs from the Southern sooty with its darker gray plumage, the male's burgundy markings over its entire face, smaller white spots on its neck and face and larger size in comparison to its Southern counterpart's light gray plumage and male's red facial markings over cheek.

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognized: * ''M. f. funebris'' – Found on Central and Southern Luzon and

* ''M. f. parkesi'' – Found on

; slightly larger, lesser extent of red on face not reaching the forecrown * ''M. f. mayri'' – Found on Northern

; longer bill and tail and yellowish gray bill Both subspecies are very similar to the nominate and may be synonymized.

Ecology and behaviour

Not much is known about this species, but it is presumed to feed on invertebrates including larvae feeding on dead wood. It is typically found singly or as a pair. It forages high up on tall trees. The breeding season is reported as March to May and it nests in holes in trees. Not much else is known.

Habitat and conservation status

Found in primary forest, mature secondary forest typically in below 1,000 masl but has been seen as high as 1,600masl. Forages in upper storeys in tall trees but also goes down to the understorey, on tree trunks and large limbs. IUCN has assessed this bird as a

near-threatened species A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qu ...

with the population said to be decreasing. This species' main threat is

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

References

northern sooty woodpecker Endemic birds of the Philippines Birds of Luzon Fauna of Marinduque Fauna of Catanduanes northern sooty woodpecker Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{woodpecker-stub