Olive-Backed Woodpecker silhouette

Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic

Olive-Backed Woodpecker

Gecinulus rafflesii

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Kaeng Krachan National Park

In 3 days <5%

37 Verified sightings at Kaeng Krachan National Park From 2019 to 2026
242 In all 7 parks
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Olive-Backed Woodpecker

The olive-backed woodpecker (Gecinulus rafflesii) is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae that is found in Southeast Asia. The olive-backed woodpecker was described by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1830 from a specimen collected by Stamford Raffles. Vigors coined the binomial name Picus rafflesii, with the specific epithet chosen to honour the memory of Raffles. The type location is Sumatra. The species was then placed in the genus Dinopium that was introduced by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1814.

A large phylogenetic study of the woodpecker family Picidae published in 2017 found that the olive-backed woodpecker (Gecinulus rafflesii) is more closely related to the pale-headed woodpecker (Gecinulus grantia). It may, therefore, be more appropriately assigned to the genus Chloropicoides.

Two subspecies are recognised: The side of the head has two black... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Way Kambas National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~10%
2 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
3 Sepilok 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
4 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
5 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
6 Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
7 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Olive-Backed Woodpecker in Kaeng Krachan National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olive-Backed Woodpecker sighting in Kaeng Krachan National Park on a given day, based on 37 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 305th most-seen of the 360 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Olive-Backed Woodpecker in Kaeng Krachan National Park?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olive-Backed Woodpecker in Kaeng Krachan National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see an Olive-Backed Woodpecker?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olive-Backed Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kaeng Krachan National Park the best place to see an Olive-Backed Woodpecker?

7th of 7

Of the 7 parks where we can rate Olive-Backed Woodpecker sightings, Kaeng Krachan National Park ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Way Kambas National Park (Indonesia, about 10%), Taman Negara National Park (Malaysia, under 5%) and Sepilok (Malaysia, under 5%).

Where does the Olive-Backed Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Olive-Backed Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Kaeng Krachan National Park (37 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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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