Reinwardtipicus validus
Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The orange-backed woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes validus) is a bird in the woodpecker family Picidae, found in southern Thailand, Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, Brunei, Sumatra, and Java. It is a forest specialist that is found primarily in the canopy.
The orange-backed woodpecker was described and illustrated in 1825 by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in his Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d'oiseaux from specimens that had been collected on the Indonesian island of Java. He coined the binomial name Pic validus. This species was previously placed in its own genus Reinwardtipicus. It is now one of ten species placed in the genus Chrysocolaptes that was introduced in 1843 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth.
Two subspecies are recognised: BirdLife species factsheet for Chrysocolaptes validus "Reinwardtipicus validus". Avibase. "Orange-backed woodpecker media". Internet Bird Collection. Interactive range map of Chrysocolaptes validus at IUCN Red List
Audio recordings of Orange-backed... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Kerinci Seblat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 6 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 7 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 8 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-Backed Woodpecker sighting in Sepilok on a given day, based on 231 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 112th most-seen of the 242 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-Backed Woodpecker in Sepilok on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange-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.
Among the best
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Orange-Backed Woodpecker sightings, Sepilok ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Way Kambas National Park (Indonesia, about 10%) and Taman Negara National Park (Malaysia, about 10%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Orange-Backed Woodpecker that you can see in Sepilok (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are White-bellied Woodpecker (about 30%), Banded Woodpecker (about 20%) and White-rumped Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-Backed Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Sepilok (231 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.
