Red-crowned Woodpecker
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| Melanerpes rubricapillus (Cabanis, 1862) |
The Red-crowned Woodpecker, Melanerpes rubricapillus, is a resident breeding bird from southwestern Costa Rica south to Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Tobago.
This woodpecker occurs in forests and semi-open woodland and cultivation. It nests in a hole in a dead tree or large cactus. The clutch is two eggs, incubated by both sexes, which fledge after 31-33 days.
Adults are 20.5 cm long and weigh 48g. They have a zebra-barred black and white back and wings and a white rump. The tail is black with some white barring, and the underparts are pale buff-brown.
The male has a red crown patch and nape. The female has a buff crown and duller nape. Immature birds are duller, particularly in the red areas of the head and neck. M. r. terricolor of Tobago is larger and darker-breasted than the nominate race.
Red-crowned Woodpeckers feed on insects, but will take fruit and visit nectar feeders.
This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling krrrrrl call and both sexes drum on territory.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Melanerpes rubricapillus. 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
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by French, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
