The yellow-crested woodpecker (''Chloropicus xantholophus''), also known as the golden-crowned woodpecker, 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 the family

Picidae 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. M ...

. Some taxonomic authorities place this species in ''

Dendropicos ''Dendropicos'' is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the sub-Saharan woodlands and forests. Taxonomy The genus ''Dendropicos'' was introduced by the French ornithologist, Alfred Malherbe ...

''. Its typical habitat is wet tropical forest and it is found in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Description

The yellow-crested woodpecker grows to a length of . The male has a small golden patch with black flecking on the crown, most noticeable in display, but the female lacks this. In other respects, the sexes are similar, the forehead being brown and the cheeks and throat whitish; there is a broad black streak through the eye which extends to the sides of the neck. The nape is black and the upper parts of the body are dull brownish-olive, usually plain but sometimes slightly barred. The rump and upper tail coverts are yellowish and the tail chocolate-brown. The underparts are brown with white spotting on the breast and white barring on the flanks and lower belly. The beak is long, the upper mandible being darker than the lower one, the iris is dark red and the legs and feet are olive-grey. Juveniles are somewhat drabber, with fewer spots but more barring, and both sexes have some yellow tipped feathers in the crown.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow-crested woodpecker occurs in equatorial Central and Western Africa. Its range extends from western Kenya to Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon, and southward to northwestern Angola. Its altitudinal range is from . Its habitat is dense primary or secondary rainforest, as well as drier forests, forest edges, and plantations of

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

where there are some remaining large trees.

Ecology

Both male and female yellow-crested woodpeckers resort frequently to drumming; they produce loud rolls which start slowly, accelerate and finally fade away. This bird is also rather vocal, producing a range of chattering calls and various series of notes. It feeds on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s in the middle and upper parts of the canopy, chiselling into wood to find beetle

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e, levering off bark, and sometimes sallying to catch flying insects. The breeding habits of this species are poorly known, but it probably nests between September and March in Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda, and between June and September in Angola.

Status

This woodpecker has an extremely wide range with a total area of occupancy of nearly . The population is believed to be stable and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 its conservation status as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q903962

yellow-crested woodpecker The yellow-crested woodpecker (''Chloropicus xantholophus''), also known as the golden-crowned woodpecker, is a species of bird in the family Picidae. Some taxonomic authorities place this species in ''Dendropicos''. Its typical habitat is wet tr ...

Birds of Central Africa

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN