The crimson-crested woodpecker (''Campephilus melanoleucos'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in subfamily Picinae of the

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

family Picidae. It is found in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, and in every mainland South American country except

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. 30 January 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved January 30, 2023

Taxomomy and systematics

The crimson-crested woodpecker was for a time placed in

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Scapaneus'' that was later merged into genus ''Phloeoceastes'' that was itself merged into the current genus ''

Campephilus ''Campephilus'' is a genus of large American woodpeckers in the family Picidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Campephilus'' was introduced by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840, with the ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis'') as ...

''.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 30 January 2023. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 30, 2023 The crimson-crested woodpecker has three subspecies: *''C. m. malherbii'' Gray, G.R., 1845 *''C. m. melanoleucos'' (

Gmelin Gmelin may refer to: * Gmelin's test, a chemical test * Gmelin database, a German handbook/encyclopedia of inorganic compounds initiated by Leopold Gmelin People * Carl Christian Gmelin (1762–1837), German botanist, author of ''Flora Badensis ...

, 1788) *''C. m. cearae'' (

Cory As a given name, Cory is used by both males and females. It is a variation of the name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in ...

, 1915) Subspecies ''C. m. malherbii'' was for a time in the early 20th century treated as a separate species.

Description

The crimson-crested woodpecker is long and weighs . It is one of the largest woodpeckers in its range, though the higher elevation powerful woodpecker (''C. pollens'') is roughly the same size. Both sexes of the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''C. m. melanoleucos'' have black upperparts from nape to rump; their rump, wings, and tail are brownish black. They have vertical white stripes on the sides of their neck that continue onto their back and form a "V". Their flight feathers have pale white or yellow or yellowish white edges. Their throat, front and sides of their neck, and their upper breast are black. Their lower breast and belly are pale cinnamon buff to tawy with wide black bars. Their undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

are pale yellow to yellowish white. Their bill is a long ivory chisel, their iris white to yellow, and their legs variable shades of gray. Adult males have a mostly red head with a white to pale yellow patch at the base of the bill and a small black and white spot on the ear coverts. Adult females are black around their eye and on front of their crest. They have a wide white stripe with black edges that extends from the bill to the ear coverts and continues narrower down the side of their neck. Juveniles resemble adult females but males have red on the side of their head and in both sexes all of the head's red is paler.Rosenblatt, C. (2020). Crimson-crested Woodpecker (''Campephilus melanoleucos''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.crcwoo1.01 retrieved February 7, 2023 Subspecies ''C. m. malherbii'' has a gray rather than ivory bill and more red around the eyes than the nominate. Their underparts are a more extensive and deeper cinamon-buff. Subspecies ''C. m. cearae'' is almost identical to the nominate but is smaller and has a disproportionately shorter tail.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the crimson-crested woodpecker is by far the most widespread. It is found on Trinidad; from eastern Colombia east through Venezuela and the Guianas; on the east side of the Andes in eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern Bolivia, and northern Paraguay; across most of Amazonian Brazil; and slightly into northeastern Argentina's

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

. Subspecies ''C. m. malherbii'' is found across most of Panama and in northern and central Colombia. ''C. m. cearae'' is found in northeastern Brazil from

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

east to

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

and south to

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

. The crimson-crested woodpecker inhabits a wide variety of landscapes, most of them forested. It favors large tracts of humid lowland forest such as ''

terra firme Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

'', forest along rivers, and mature

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. It also occurs in somewhat more open areas including plantations as long as tall trees are present.

Behavior

Feeding

The crimson-crested woodpecker forages at any level of the forest, though it appears to favor the mid-level. It pecks, probes, digs, and scales bark to reach its prey, which is mostly insects such as beetles, butterflies and moths, and ants, both adult and larval. Some individuals have been observed feeding on termites, and small berries and seeds are also part of their diet. It often feeds on smaller branches than other similar-sized woodpeckers. Pairs typically forage together though they may be separated by several meters.

Breeding

The crimson-crested woodpecker breeds from November through January in Panama and February to April in Suriname; their season in Trinidad includes April and that in Colombia includes February. Their nesting season elsewhere has not been defined. Both sexes excavate the nest cavity, usually in a large-diameter tree, and drum and call to each other during the excavation period. One known clutch was of two eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs and provision nestlings and fledglings. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The crimson-crested woodpecker is not highly vocal, but has a variety of calls. Its most frequent call during the breeding season is "a hollow, popping series of notes, sometimes delivered in a rapid chatter: ''tkep-tkep-tkep''". Other calls between pairs are "''kwirr kwirr-al''", "''wuk wuk, wrr wrr''", and "''uh uh''". Alarm calls are "a repeated ''ca-wa-rr-r''" and "a shrill ''put put puttas''". The species' drum is "an initially strong blow, followed by a vibrating temble of weaker notes that is described as ''DA-drrr''" Nest excavation produceds a steady drumming as well. In flight their wings make "a heavy sound".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the crimson-crested woodpecker as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range and an estimated population of more than five million mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. "Deforestation has been the largest effect humans have had on this bird, as this species regularly loses 16.7-19.3% of suitable habitat about every 15 years. Human deforestation has cut down many of the open, continuous forests that this species requires."

References

External links

on Oiseaux Birds
Stamps
(for

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

) with RangeMap
Crimson-crested Woodpecker photo gallery
VIREO