The Okinawa Woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii) is a woodpecker endemic to the island of Okinawa in Japan.
This is a medium-sized (31cm), dark woodpecker. It is dark brown in colour with reddish tips to its feathers. It has white spots on the primaries. The head is a paler brown, with a dark red crown on the male and a blackish-brown on the female.
Their breeding habitat is subtropical, evergreen broad-leaved forest of at least 30 years old, with tall trees of more than 20 cm in diameter. Nesting is between late February and May.
This woodpecker is critically endangered. It has a single tiny, declining population which is threatened by habitat loss of mature forest due to logging, dam construction, agriculture and golf course developments. The current population is estimated at less than 600.
Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of the largest and most populous island, Okinawa Honto, which is approximately half-way between Kyūshū and Taiwan.
Okinawa's location in the East China Sea, and relatively close proximity to Japan, Korea, China and South East Asia allowed the Ryūkyū Kingdom to become a prosperous trading nation.
Okinawa is a major producer of sugar cane, pineapples, papayas and other tropical fruits.
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