Japanese Green Woodpecker (Picus awokera), also known as Japanese Woodpecker, is a medium-sized woodpecker

Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....

 similar and closely related to the European Green Woodpecker, but endemic to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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This species reaches about 30 cm in length, with bright green wings and tail, a red or black mustache and crown (as opposed to the black face of the Green Woodpecker), gray head, neck, and chest, and white underparts with black markings.

The Japanese Green Woodpecker is divided into at least two subspecies:

• P. a. awokera, the nominate subspecies, found on Honshū
  Honshu
  is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
  
  
• P. a. horii, native to Kyūshū
  Kyushu
  is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
  
  

The binomial is a reference to the Japanese name of the species, aogera.

External links

• Japanese Woodpecker at Avibase