Hoffmann's Woodpecker
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| Melanerpes hoffmannii (Cabanis, 1862) |
The Hoffmann's Woodpecker, Melanerpes hoffmannii, is a resident breeding bird from southern Honduras south to Costa Rica. It is a common species on the Pacific slopes, locally as high as 2150 m. It is expanding on the Caribbean slope, aided by deforestation.
This woodpecker occurs in deciduous open woodland, second growth, shade trees and hedges, but avoids dense forest. It nests in an unlined hole up to 9 m high in a dead tree. The clutch is two or three glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.
The adult Hoffmann's Woodpecker is 18 cm long and weighs 68g. Its upperparts and wings are neatly barred with black and white, and it has a white rump. The underparts are pale buff-grey with a yellow central belly patch. The male has a white forehead, red crown, and yellow nape. The female as a white crown and forehead and reduced yellow nape. Young birds are duller, have less white above and less yellow on the belly.
The Hoffmann's Woodpeckers feeds on insects, often extracted from decaying wood, but will take substantial quantities of fruit and nectar.
This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling wicka-wicka-wicka call and both sexes drum on territory. It will mob the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.
This woodpecker is named for the German naturalist Karl Hoffmann
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Melanerpes hoffmannii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
