Arabian woodpecker

The Arabian woodpecker (Dendrocoptes dorae) or Sarat woodpecker, is a bird species of the family Picidae, native to the Sarawat Mountains of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It is the only woodpecker that breeds on the Arabian Peninsula.

This species was first described in 1935 by the American naturalist George Latimer Bates and the Scottish zoologist Norman Boyd Kinnear, the scientific name being proposed by their occasional co-worker, the British Arabist St John Philby, in honour of his wife Dora.

Some taxonomic authorities continue to place the species in Dendrocopos, while others place it genus Dendropicos.

The Arabian woodpecker grows to a length of about 18 cm (7 in). The male has a brownish or pale grey head with a bright red patch on the crown and nape. The back, wings, and tail are olive-grey to brown streaked with white, and the wings are barred with white. The underparts are grey streaked with white and the belly has the central area suffused with red. The female is similar but lacks the red crown patch. The call has been rendered as "pweek pit-pit-pit-pit-pit-pit-pit-ptptpt" and the bird occasionally drums on branches.