Bird Series: Woody Woodpecker, Bloody Joker

Bird Series: woody woodpecker, bloody joker
2007, Oil on board, 20” x 18”,



belatuk rimba (Reinwardtipicus validus) mengorek lubang
korek sana sini, pagi dan petang
lubang dikorek dibuat sarang,
korek lubang kambus lubang
hidup jangan banyak hutang
silap-silap nyawa melayang

English transliteration:

Woody woodpecker (Reinwardtipicus validus) pecking a tree
All day long he is busy
Making a home for his family,
Once one’s borrows lot of money
life will be full of misery
No way, one’s could be happy

©ShafeeRamli aka Chief

Note: Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species.

Woodpeckers gained their English name because of the habit of some species of tapping and pecking noisily on tree trunks with their beaks. This is both a means of communication to signal possession of territory to their rivals, and a method of locating and accessing insect larvae found under the bark or in long winding tunnels in the tree.

The woodpecker first locates a tunnel by tapping on the trunk. Once a tunnel is found, the woodpecker chisels out wood until it makes an opening into the tunnel. Then it worms its tongue into the tunnel to try to locate the grub. The tongue of the woodpecker is long and ends in a barb. With its tongue the woodpecker skewers the grub and draws it out of the trunk.

Woodpeckers also use their beaks to create larger holes for their nests.