Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

Yungipicus moluccensis

Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Singapore

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

1,421 Verified sightings at Singapore
391 In all 8 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker

The Sunda pygmy woodpecker (Yungipicus moluccensis), also known as the Sunda woodpecker, is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Some taxonomic authorities continue to place this species in the genus Dendrocopos or Picoides.

The Sunda pygmy woodpecker was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other woodpeckers in the genus Picus and coined the binomial name Picus moluccensis. Gmelin based his description on "Le petit épeiche brun des Moluques" that had been described in 1780 by the French polymath Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The locality was originally specified as the Maluku Islands. This was an error and has been corrected to the state of Malacca in Malaysia. The Sunda pygmy woodpecker is now one of seven species placed in the genus Yungipicus that was introduced in 1854 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte.

Two subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:07

Malaysia · 2025

© Ding Li Yong · XC958967 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Drumming0:10

Malaysia · 2022

© Lim Ying Hien · XC717390 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:55

Indonesia · 2012

© Colin Trainor · XC109553 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Way Kambas National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~40%
2 Komodo National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~20%
3 Gunung Leuser National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~10%
4 Sepilok 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
5 Bali Barat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
6 Kerinci Seblat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
7 Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
8 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Jakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
2 Johor Bahru 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
3 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
~10%
4 Kuching 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
5 Yogyakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
6 Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
7 Denpasar 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker in Singapore?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker sighting in Singapore on a given day, based on 1,421 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 60th most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker in Singapore?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker in Singapore on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker?

Between 2 and 5 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Singapore the best place to see a Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker?

3rd of 7

Of the 7 cities where we can rate Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker sightings, Singapore ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Jakarta (Indonesia, about 30%) and Johor Bahru (Malaysia, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker live in Singapore?

Same family: Picidae

The closest relatives of the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker that you can see in Singapore (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Common Flameback (about 20%), Banded Woodpecker (about 20%) and Laced Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Singapore (1,421 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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