Picidae

Picus westermani
Blyth, 1870: 163

Current name:
Dendrocopos macei westermani

Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
1 holotype

Holotype: ZMA 1940, adult male, "Himalayas", date and collector unknown, acquired by G.F. Westerman, the director of the Royal Zoological Society 'Natura Artis Magistra' (the predecessor of the ZMA); wing 114.5, tail 68, bill to feathers 26.0, tarsus 20.2.

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Additional information
Though synonymized with nominate macei in Ali & Ripley (1970), a good race according to Ticehurst (1928) and this is supported by birds examined in ZMA and RMNH: measurements of 15 birds of the W Himalayas and many topotypical macei from the C & E Himalayas show a strong divergence, with wing of male in the west 113-118, bill 27-30, and wing of male macei in the centre and east 100-109 (a few to 113), bill 22-26 (Ticehurst 1928). As the wing of the type of westermani is 117.5 mm according to the original description, it is certainly a representative of this larger-sized western population, which thus should bear the name westermani (Ticehurst 1928). Though the holotype is actually not as large as Ticehurst suggested (see above), its plumage and that of other W Himalayan birds shows broader white bars on the upperparts than typical macei from Nepal, Darjeeling, and Sikkim, a narrower and shorter black malar stripe, and strongly reduced or obsolete dark barring on the flanks.

Measurements
As far as types in the ZMA are concerned, all measurements were taken by C.S. Roselaar, unless otherwise noted, using the methods as described in Svensson (1992) and comparable with the data published in the Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. All are in mm, and are given to the nearest mm when taken with a ruler and to one-tenth of a mm when measured with calipers.

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