Banded Woodpecker picking ants

Posted by BESG on 19 August 09, Wednesday
Contributed by Jason Cho

Jason Cho sent this image of a Banded Woodpecker (Picus miniaceus) picking ants from a tree.

This bird is a common resident in Singapore. It forages on living tree stems and branches as well as dead ones, tapping and probing in search of various insects and their larvae. Ants are a favourite food and if there is a nest around, the woodpecker will also take the pupae and eggs.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

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Categories: Feeding-invertebrates

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