Phil & other woodpecker fans,

Birds of the World says little about "race richardsoni", only that it
is extinct in Japan & rare and local in "Korea". The species as a
whole is listed as uncommon but "not globally threatened". Another
good woodpecker book is "Woodpeckers: An Identification Guide to the
Woodpeckers of the World", Houghton-Mifflin. This book (1995) adds a
little more, on p. 341: "a rare and endangered race in central and
southern Korea (and formerly also Tsushima, Japan." Further on, it
adds: "In Japan, before its extinction, it occurred in dense mature
coniferous forests mixed with oak and camphors." This book also
indicates the species is rare and local throughout its range.

Anyway, it doesn't appear to occur in North Korea, so it should be
safe from our trigger-happy, environment-be-damned President, unless
it's in the DMZ, which is a strong possibility, since there's been
not as much development there in the last half-century!

Mark



>------------------------------------
>December 29 '05
>
>I've always liked woodpeckers, probably because of the sheltering
>woods they live in. Having said that, I'm mostly reduced to looking
>at books and other literature out there. I dug out Short's
>"Woodpeckers of the World" the other night, and savored it some
>more. Looking at the classification of woodpeckers by Tribe makes it
>come together better, and gives it a slant on the evolution of the
>group.
>
>One large woodpecker, Tristram's White-bellied Woodpecker of Korea
>is still elusive to me. I read on some search engine that there are
>only about ten pairs left, and I assume they are all or mostly in
>North Korea. So if the war powers in D.C. plan on a "shock and awe"
>attack, I hope they carefully avoid hitting the habitat of that
>woodpecker.
>
>A problem for me, with Birdlife International for example, is that
>they only look at full species. The plight of the Korean
>White-bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis richardsi) is barely
>mentioned in small print in the literature. And the only search
>engiine pic I found was on a South Korean Stamp. I saved it though,
>if anyone wants to see it.
>
>What does that have to do with American woodpeckers, you may ask?
>Well, an early Dryocpus woodpecker invaded the eurasian continent
>from North America and radiated out. So I have a higher level of
>interest in them than strictly old world genera of woodpeckers.
>Campephilus didn't make it over there, so we ought to protect that
>eleven species group that includes the Ivory-bill.
>
>Now that I'm even starting to bore myself, I'll quit this blog.
>
>Happy New Year all!
>
>Phil Hotlen
>Bellingham,WA
>---------------------------------


--
Mark Egger
Seattle, WA
USA
mailto:m.egger at comcast.net