White-bellied Woodpecker
PIE
13 Feb 2016


General details
Species White-bellied Woodpecker Dryocopus javensis
Record ID 552
Date 13 Feb 2016
Location PIE
Count 2 individuals
Date added 25 Oct 2021

This record has not been accepted by the Records Committee. For more details, see below.

Committee's view
Background
Shared by Alfred Chia on the Facebook group Singapore Birders. Quoting the post "Lady Luck was with me today on the 6th day of CNY when two White-bellied Woodpeckers flew across the PIE towards the Malcolm Road area while I was driving past just before Onraet Road. It must have flown from the vicinity of the Mount Pleasant Road area. Time recorded was 3.35pm. This is a very rare nationally-threatened species & was last recorded in July 2005. In the earlier years, I've seen this species in Gymkhana Avenue before but that was before all the construction works for the MRT began. Maximum I've seen was 4 on a Terantang tree in Sime Forest. This is still a mystery species in local avifauna as they have a "habit of disappearing" altogether after being sighted, as in this instance, a 10-year lapse. When we begin to wonder if they have been extirpated, they reappear mysteriously again. We now know again that this woodpecker is still around and is hanging out around the Mount Pleasant & Malcolm Road wooded areas, for now at least.". Given the lack of details, and that it was seen from the car, we choose to reject this record despite the observer's reliability.
Verdict Not accepted (Unverifiable)

References (see all)
References Facebook; NSS

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (2021). Record 552: White-bellied Woodpecker Dryocopus javensis. Retrieved April 20, 2024, from https://records.singaporebirds.com/record/552/.

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