Southern Sooty Woodpecker (Mulleripicus fuliginosus)

About the Southern Sooty Woodpecker

The southern sooty woodpecker (Mulleripicus fuliginosus) is a bird in the family Picidae. It is endemic to the Philippines on the islands of Mindanao, Leyte, and Samar. Its natural habitat is threatened by habitat loss. Both the southern sooty woodpecker and the northern sooty woodpecker were previously considered to be subspecies of the same species, Mulleripicus funebris, known simply as the "sooty woodpecker". They were split as distinct species by the IOC in 2021. The Southern sooty differs from the Northern sooty with its light ashy gray plumage, its white ivory colored bill, the male's bright red mark on its cheek, larger white spots on its neck and face and slightly smaller size in comparison to its Northern counterpart's dark gray plumage and male's burgundy facial markings over its entire face.