Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

The brown-capped pygmy woodpecker, or Indian pygmy woodpecker, is a very small brown-and-white woodpecker. It has a brown cap from the forehead to the hindneck, edged red in the male, brown eye stripes contrasting with white eyebrows and cheeks, brown-and-white barred upperparts, lightly streaked dirty-white underparts and a tail spotted white. Its pink-rimmed white eyes are distinctive. Some authorities still place it in Dendrocopos or Picoides (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is very active in the tree canopy but easily overlooked, foraging in pairs or with mixed flocks by gleaning and probing wood for small invertebrates, and also taking nectar and fruit. Pairs are monogamous and territorial, and excavate nest holes 2–14m up in dead branches. Its call is a weak, rapid rattle rising in pitch. It is resident, though high-altitude birds may move lower in winter. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent, estimates a long-term decline of about 46%, and rates it a Moderate conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).