Fauna of India (Birds)  vol iii 1895 - by W. T. Blanford

Genus TIGA, Kaup, 1836

This genus is very close to Brachypternus, and differs chiefly in having no hallux (first digit or inner hind toe); the coronal feathers are more elongate and the wing more pointed. It represents Brachypternus east of the Bay of Bengal, but is also found in the Indian peninsula.

Key to the Species
A single black line down middle of throat                                                   ..... T. javanensis
Two black lines with a brownish space between them down middle of throat ..... T. shorei

Tiga javanensis,  Common Golden-backed Three-toed Woodpecker

Coloration: Bill very dark brown; iris hazel; eyelids plumbeous; legs greenish; claws horn-colour (Oates). Male. Crown and long occipital crest crimson. Feathers dark ashy at the base, then black, then red often brownish. Sides of head and neck white, except a broad black band from the eye to the nape, and another black band, often much mixed with white, from the malar region to the shoulder; hind neck and uppermost back black; back, scapulars and wing coverts golden olive, with orange or scarlet edges; rump and lower back crimson; upper tail-coverts black, often brownish; outer webs of secondary quills golden olive, rest of quills brownish black, with white spots on the inner webs only, tips of primaries sometimes very pale or whitish; tail black; lower parts white or buffy white; a broken black stripe down the middle of the chin and throat, getting broader below; feathers of breast and abdomen with broad black edges, so broad on the breast as to produce a scale-like pattern; flanks and lower tail-coverts barred black. Female. Whole crown and occipital crest black, with elongate subterminal spots on each feather.
 

Size: Length 11.5;  tail 4;  wing 5.8;  tarsus 0.95;  bill from gape 1.5

Distribution: Common throughout Burma, extending to Siam, Cambodia, Cochin China, the Malay peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. Found also in the hill-forests near the Malabar coast of India as far north as the Wynaad. The statement that the type of T. rubropygialis came from Bengal needs confirmation (according to Jerdon it came from Bangalore). Apparently this species is found nowhere in the Peninsula of India except the southern part of the Malabar coast, and it is also wanting in the Assam hills, Cachar, and Manipur.

The Malabar form called Chrysonotus rubropygia by Jerdon is rather smaller than the Burmese, and has rather more white on the breast, but there is no constant distinction.

Habits: Very similar to those of Brachypternus. The present species has much the same shrill call and is equally familiar. The eggs have been taken in March in the Malabar forests by F. Bourdillon, and in Burma from March to May by Oates and Bingham. They are laid, like those of other Woodpeckers, in holes in trees, are white, glossy, and usually three in number, and measure about 1.11 by 0.8.


Tiga shorei,  Himalayan Golden-backed Three-toed Woodpecker

Very similar to T. javanensis. The differences are that in the present species there are two broken black lines down the throat and foreneck, the space between them being isabelline, as is the malar region and sometimes the breast in part. There is less black on the lower parts throughout. There is no black or blackish bar behind the crimson tips of the coronal feathers in the male, and the bases of the feathers are paler ashy. Whilst in the female the feathers on the top of the head are brown with long white shaft-lines.

Bill blackish slaty; irides crimson; legs plumbeous (Jerdon)

Size: Length about 12;  tail 4.25;  wing 6;  tarsus 1.05;  bill from gape 1.6

Distribution: The lower valleys of the Himalayas from Dehradoon to Bhutan also Bhamo and the neighborhood of Thayet Myo in Upper Pegu. It is remarkable that neither this species nor the last appears to have been observed in the countries between Burma and the Himalayas. Reported occurrences of T. shorei in the Indian peninsula need confirmation; they may have been founded on large specimens of T. javanensis, but one in Blyth’s Catalogue, from Goomsur, should not be forgotten.

It is on the whole doubtful whether this form should be kept separate from T. javanensis.

Genus GAUROPICOIDES, Malherbe, 1861

Three toes only, the hallux or inner posterior toe wanting; hind toe shorter than outer fore toe. Bill with the culmen straight and sharply angulate, the nasal ridge well marked, near the culmen; nostrils at base of bill, nasal plumes short, but covering the nostrils. Tail-feathers narrow, all pointed except the outer pair, which are but little shorter than the next. Wings very rounded.

Coloration yellow above, brown below, the head banded with black and white at the side; male with a red, female with a black cap. A single species.

Gauropicoides rafflesi,  Raffles’s Three-toed Woodpecker

Coloration: Upper mandible and tip of lower black or bluish, rest of lower mandible plumbeous; irides deep brown; legs and feet dark green. Male. Whole cap, nape, and long pointed nuchal crest bright crimson; nasal plumes and lores pale brown; lower lores and a band from them to under the eye to far down the side of neck white, also a white supercilium from above the eye to the nape. A band down the back of the neck, a line above the supercilium, a broad band below it from the eye, and a third line from the base of the lower mandible black, the lowest line is narrow and brown at first but broader behind. Back, scapulars, secondary coverts and outer webs of the secondaries golden-olive, the edges of the feathers brighter; rump-feathers the same, but the edges sometimes tinged with red; primary-coverts and wing- feathers blackish brown, the inner webs of the latter with a few round white spots towards the base, the primaries tipped with whitish and having occasionally a few very small pale spots on the outer webs; upper tail-coverts dark brown; tail black; chin and throat white sullied with fulvous; remaining lower parts olive-brown, the flanks and under wing-coverts spotted white. Female. The crimson of the head and nape is replaced by black; forehead yellowish brown.

Size: Length 12;  tail 4.6;  wing 5.7;  tarsus 1;  bill from gape 1.5.

Distribution: The Malay peninsula, ranging into Tenasserim to a little north of the latitude of Moulmein; also Sumatra and Borneo.

Habits: According to Davison this Woodpecker much resembles Tiga javanensis in its habits and voice. It keeps to evergreen forests, is found singly or in pairs, and is not shy. It is seen on fallen trees but not on the ground.