The Sulu pygmy woodpecker (''Yungipicus ramsayi''), also known as the Sulu woodpecker, 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. ...

. Formerly lumped with the Philippine pygmy woodpecker (''Y. maculatus''), it seems to form a

superspecies In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

with this and the Sulawesi pygmy woodpecker (''Y. temminckii''). Some taxonomic authorities continue to place this species in the genus ''

Dendrocopos ''Dendrocopos'' is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia, Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles. Taxonomy The genus ''Dendrocopos'' was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Lud ...

'' or ''

Picoides ''Picoides'' is a genus of woodpeckers (family Picidae) that are native to Eurasia and North America, commonly known as three-toed woodpeckers. Taxonomy The genus ''Picoides'' was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépè ...

''. 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 ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. 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 Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

, tropical

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withsta ...

, and

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

. It is threatened by

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 ...

Description

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 small woodpecker of lowland wooded areas on the Sulu Islands. Dark brown above with some white spots on the back, a white rump, throat, and underparts with faint streaking, and buffy sides of the chest. Note the alternating dark brown and white stripes on the head, with a dark forecrown. Hind crown is dark in females and bright red in males. Unmistakable. No other similarly sized woodpeckers occur in its range. Voice includes a series of rapid notes in a forceful trill." The species is named after Captain Wardlaw Ramsay from whose collection the species was described by Hargitt. Specimens were claimed to have been obtained from Borneo but the locality was not certain until new specimens were obtained from Sulu Island by Guillemard.

Ecology and behavior

The security situation in the Sulu archipelago has prevented researchers from studying this bird. It is pressumed to have a similar diet as the Philippine pygmy woodpecker and Sunda pygmy woodpecker both of which feed on insects. Forages alone or in pairs but also joins mixed flocks. This species is observed foraging on dead tree branches. There is no information at all on its breeding habits.

Habitat and conservation status

It inhabits forest clearings, forest edge, mangroves and cultivated areas, in addition to primary forest, although it has been speculated that it avoids dense forest. It is seen in altitudes up to 550 meters above sea level. However, its habitat preferences are poorly understood. Its tolerance of degraded habitats implies that it should be more numerous than is the case. The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

classifies this bird as a vulnerable with population estimates of 2,500 to 9,999 mature individuals. Although this species is supposedly more tolerant of habitat degradation, it is still threatened by

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of legal and

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

, conversion into farmlands or

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

plantations and urbanization. Due to the rapid loss of habitat in the

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

, many of the birds endemic to the region like the

Sulu hornbill The Sulu hornbill (''Anthracoceros montani''), or Montano's hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines, with the remaining populations in Tawi-Tawi with it beli ...

, Tawitawi brown dove, Blue-winged racket-tail, Sulu hawk-owl are all threatened with extinction. There are no species specific conservation programs going on at the moment but conservation actions proposed include more species surveys to better understand habitat and population. Lobby for protection of remaining forest. Continue to expand environmental awareness programs and raise the species profile and instill pride in locals

References

Sulu pygmy woodpecker Fauna of Sulu Fauna of Tawi-Tawi Fauna of Basilan Endemic birds of the Philippines Sulu pygmy woodpecker Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{woodpecker-stub