Voice
A loud, nasal, 'keeenk-keeenk-keenk', a harsh 'tu-wic, tu-wic t-wic ti-wicca', and shrill rattling notes. Drumming is brief, up to five seconds, starting rapidly but sonn slowing., repeated every 2 - 3 minutes.
Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus) [XC192502]
by Eveny Luis from Taman Negara, Sungai Relau, Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia (call, song)
Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus) [XC795768]
by Ding Li Yong from Porora, India (call, courtship call (?))
Subspecies
Proposed subspecies badius (Sumatra) and celaenephis (Nias I) inseparable from continental squamigularis.
The following 11 subspecies are recognised:
humei Kloss, 1918 - Northern India (Himachal Pradesh) east to to western Nepal.
jerdonii (Malherbe, 1849) - Western India (southern from southern Gujarat) south to Sri Lanka.
phaioceps (Blyth, 1845) - Central Nepal and eastern India east to south-eastern Tibet, Myanmar and southern China (western and southern Yunnan) and south to southern Thailand.
fokiensis (Swinhoe, 1863) - Southern and south-eastern China and northern Vietnam.