Bird Album
Great Slaty Woodpecker
Mulleripicus pulverulentus (Temminck, 1826)
≈52 cmLength450 gWeight
It has mostly dark gray feathers, a long neck and a long, powerful, chisel-shaped bill.
Busiest months: February–March · Most records: Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia
How to identify
Field marks
- Very long bill with a chisel-like tip
- Long neck and long tail
- Feathers almost entirely dark gray, with white spots on the head and neck
- Paler throat, pale gray to pale yellow
Male, female and young
The male has a small red “moustache” beside the bill.
Voice
A soft, weak call resembling “woikwoikwoikwoik”, usually given as 4 notes in succession.
Where and when it's recorded
Great Slaty Woodpecker has been recorded at 149 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 13 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The great slaty woodpecker (Mulleripicus pulverulentus) is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. A unique and basically unmistakable bird, it is the largest confirmed living woodpecker species, behind the likely extinct imperial woodpecker and ivory-billed woodpecker.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Great Slaty Woodpecker?
The Great Slaty Woodpecker is about ≈52 cm long and weighs around 450 g.
Where does the Great Slaty Woodpecker live?
Its breeding range: Oriental: widespread. It is most often recorded in Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
When is the best time to see the Great Slaty Woodpecker?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in February and March (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Great Slaty Woodpecker endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Great Slaty Woodpecker as Vulnerable.
What does the Great Slaty Woodpecker eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Great Slaty Woodpecker in?
It belongs to the family Woodpeckers (Picidae), order Piciformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈52 cm
- Weight
- 450 g
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Vulnerable
More measurements
- Wing
- 239 mm
- Tail
- 171 mm
- Bill
- 69 mm
- Tarsus
- 39 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Oriental: widespread
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Subspecies · 1
- Mulleripicus pulverulentus harterti ne India to sw China, Indochina and n Malay Pen.
Classification
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Woodpeckers Picidae
- Genus
- Mulleripicus
Other birds in the genus Mulleripicus
Ashy WoodpeckerMulleripicus fulvus
Northern Sooty WoodpeckerMulleripicus funebris
Southern Sooty WoodpeckerMulleripicus fuliginosus
Eurasian WryneckJynx torquilla
Red-throated WryneckJynx ruficollis
Speckled PiculetPicumnus innominatus
Bar-breasted PiculetPicumnus aurifrons
Lafresnaye's PiculetPicumnus lafresnayi
Orinoco PiculetPicumnus pumilus
Golden-spangled PiculetPicumnus exilis
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Firhan Hadi. ↗
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