Rain still tipping down here, very steady rain, the sort of rain we do not see in South India. Everything very wet. We went to SItavani this morning and despite the rain we were rewarded by the sight of a Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) perched on a dead tree. Everything all very dull until we heard a cacophony from the canopy above us. We looked up to see a party of Great Slaty Woodpeckers (Mulleripicus pulverulentus). This magnificent bird is the largest woodpecker of the region (larger than a House Crow) and needs mature sal and teak forest. The male has a scarlet moustachial stripe that is not present in the female.
Ali and Ripley note that “the individuals scatter to feed in neighbouring trees, maintaining contact with one another by short querulous notes between the bouts of powerful tapping as they scuttle jerkily up and down the boles and branches. The birds fly from one patch of the forest to another in sprawling follow-my-leader style through the tree-tops or high above the forest canopy.”
Ali and Ripley note that “the individuals scatter to feed in neighbouring trees, maintaining contact with one another by short querulous notes between the bouts of powerful tapping as they scuttle jerkily up and down the boles and branches. The birds fly from one patch of the forest to another in sprawling follow-my-leader style through the tree-tops or high above the forest canopy.”
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