Yellow-crowned Woodpecker

The yellow-crowned or Mahratta woodpecker is a medium-small, pale-headed pied woodpecker, about 17.5cm long and 28–46g. Its upperparts are black heavily spotted and barred with white, and its underparts are dark and streaked dingy white with a red patch on the belly. It has irregular brown patches on the cheeks and neck. The male has a yellow fore-crown and a scarlet nape, while the female's crown and nape are yellowish. It is the only member of its genus (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a woodpecker of the Indian subcontinent and is closely related to the woodpeckers of the genus Dendrocoptes. The cached species account gives little detail on its behaviour. SoIB 2023 lists it as resident in India with a large range, estimates a long-term decline of about 73% and a current fall of about 3% a year, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).