NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pale-headed Woodpecker
Gecinulus grantia (Horsfield, 1840)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pale-headed woodpecker (Gecinulus grantia) is a species of bird in the family Picidae.
It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is a bamboo specialist, and a montane bird.
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2017 found that the pale-headed woodpecker was embedded within the genus Dinopium and was a sister species to the olive-backed woodpecker (Dinopium rafflesii).
Wikipedia contributors, Pale-headed woodpecker; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:54:29.493337+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gecinulus grantia (Horsfield, 1840)
- Name authority
- (Horsfield, 1840)
- Common name
- Pale-headed Woodpecker
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Gecinulus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- subfamilyPicinae
- genusGecinulus Blyth, 1845
- speciesGecinulus grantia (Horsfield, 1840)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gecinulus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bamboo WoodpeckerGecinulus viridis Blyth, 1862 | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554154 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6JZ88. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.