Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Melanerpes aurifrons
Medium-sized woodpecker, plain buffy-brown overall with black-and-white barring on the back. Head pattern varies across range but usually shows some combination of yellow and red. Most males on the Caribbean slope of Mexico and into Central America have a solidly red crown and nape. In flight, look for white rump. Common and conspicuous in open woodlands, deciduous forest, and arid scrub from Texas and Oklahoma south to Nicaragua. Often the default woodpecker close to human settlements. Visits backyards and feeders, especially for oranges and jelly. Hybridizes with Red-bellied Woodpecker at the northern limits of its range and with Hoffmann’s Woodpecker at the southern limits. Also compare with the smaller Yucatan Woodpecker.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes aurifrons
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Green-striped Brushfinch
Arremon virenticeps
Fairly stocky, sparrowlike bird endemic to highland forests. Occurs mainly in fir and humid pine-oak forest understory, often in brushy flower banks and shady canyons, where typically skulking and difficult to see well. Feeds on and near the ground, usually in pairs. White throat stands out in shady understory, but green head stripes can be difficult to see. Range does not overlap rather similar Chestnut-capped Brushfinch.
Rufous Fieldwren
Calamanthus campestris
Small bird of open arid shrubland and grasslands. Pale brown above, whitish below, with distinct pale supercilium, faint chest streaking, and long, cocked tail. Forages quietly on the ground or in thick vegetation, where difficult to see. Most easily observed when males sing in spring, as they perch up in the vegetation. Similar to Western Fieldwren but no range overlap. Compare Shy Heathwren, which has a white wing spot and darker legs.
Yellow-capped Weaver
Ploceus dorsomaculatus
A yellow-and-black weaver. Male has a distinctive golden crown and upper back, but the lower back and tail are black. Female is black on the mask, and on the forehead up to the midcrown. Juvenile is mostly dark above. An uncommon resident in the middle levels and canopy of primary and secondary forest, especially sub-montane forest. Found in pairs and small groups, and often joins mixed-species flocks. Mostly silent, the voice undocumented. Preuss’s Weaver is similar to Yellow-capped, but it has a yellow (not black) lower back and rump, and it creeps along branches and trunks like a nuthatch.
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