Lineated woodpecker

The lineated woodpecker (''Dryocopus lineatus'') is a very large woodpecker which is a resident breeding bird from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and on Trinidad in the Caribbean.

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the lineated woodpecker in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. He used the French name ''Le pic noir hupé de Cayenne'' and the Latin name ''Picus niger cayanensis cristatus''. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the 12th edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the lineated woodpecker. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name ''Picus lineatus'' and cited Brisson's work. The specific name ''lineatus'' is Latin and means "lined" or "marked with lines". The species is now placed in the genus ''Dryocopus'' which was introduced by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826.

There are five subspecies:
* ''D. l. scapularis'' – ( Vigors, 1829): found in western Mexico (Sonora south to Guerrero). The white stripe on the sides of the face is reduced or lacking; also smaller than ''similis'' and nominate ''lineatus''. Bill pale, pale horn, dull white, or bluish-white.
* ''D. l. similis'' – (Lesson, 1847): found in eastern and southern Mexico south to northwestern Costa Rica. Bill pale, pale horn, dull white, or bluish-white. Underparts buffy. Body mass is .
* ''D. l. lineatus'' – (Linnaeus, 1766): nominate, found in eastern and southern Costa Rica south to western Colombia and east to Trinidad, the Guianas and northeastern and eastern Brazil (Maranhão, Bahia), and south to eastern Peru, northern Paraguay and south central Brazil (São Paulo). Bill dark. Body mass is .
* ''D. l. fuscipennis'' – ( P. L. Sclater, 1860): found in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. Bill dark. Smaller than nominate ''lineatus''. Plumage browner, less black.
* ''D. l. erythrops'' – (Valenciennes, 1826): found in eastern Paraguay, northern and northeastern Argentina and southeastern Brazil. Bill dark. Larger than nominate. White scapular lines often reduced; generally the scapular lines are absent in southern populations, but the "proportion of individuals with scapular lines increases towards range of nominate ''lineatus''" (Winkler et al., 1995). Body mass is .

Description

The lineated woodpecker is long. It resembles the closely related pileated woodpecker (''Dryocopus pileatus'') of United States and Canada.

Adults are mainly black above, with a red crest and whitish lines from the base of the bill, down the neck and shoulders (though individuals from the south-eastern part of its range commonly lack the line on the shoulders). The underparts are whitish, heavily barred with black. They show white on the wings in flight. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat (malar) and a red forehead. In adult females, these plumage features are black. The bill is typically black in both sexes, though pale-billed individuals regularly are seen.

The call of this widespread but wary bird is a loud, ringing ''wic-wic-wic''. Both sexes drum.

In most of its range, it is most likely confused with the crimson-crested woodpecker (''Campephilus melanoleucos''), which is similar in plumage and size. In the female of that species, the light face line is far broader, and the white shoulder lines meet on the back lower back (forming a "V"). The male crimson-crested woodpecker is quite different with its almost entirely red head.

Ecology

The habitat of this species is forest borders and other open woodland. It is not generally a mountain bird, though it has occasionally been recorded in the uplands (e.g., in the Serranía de las Quinchas of Colombia) Three white eggs are laid in a nest hole is in a dead tree and incubated by both sexes. The young are fed by regurgitation.

Lineated woodpeckers chip out holes, often quite large, while searching out insects in trees. They mainly eat insects, especially ants and their larvae, beetles and their larvae, termites, orthopterans, caterpillars with some seeds, such as from ''Heliconia'' and ''Clusia rosea'', and fruits, berries, and nuts.

Lineated woodpeckers breed March–April in Panama, April–May in Belize, and February–April in Trinidad and Suriname. Nest cavities are excavated in dead trees at variable heights, from above the ground. Both sexes excavate the nests, which are about deep, wide, and have an entrance about in diameter. Clutch size ranges from 2–4 eggs (2–3 in Trinidad). Males and females take 2- to 3-hour shifts incubating during the day, but only males incubate at night. Chicks are fed about once an hour by both parents through regurgitation; the female does most of the feeding while the male guards the nest. Incubation and fledging periods not documented.

References

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Further reading

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External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269603

lineated woodpecker
Birds of Central America
Birds of South America
Birds of Mexico
Birds of Trinidad and Tobago
Birds of the Caribbean
lineated woodpecker
lineated woodpecker
Birds of the Amazon Basin
Birds of Brazil
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN