Hispaniolan Woodpecker
Melanerpes striatus
A noisy and gregarious woodpecker that inhabits most wooded habitats. It is a striking species with a bold yellow-and-black barred back, a red crown, and a gray face with staring yellow eye. In flight, note the bright red rump. No similar species occur in its range. Vocalizations include a squeaky "wick, wick, wick, wick…", a sputtering "du-du-du-du-du...", and a squeaky, sometimes drawn out, whinny.
Identification
The Hispaniolan woodpecker is a gold and black barred bird growing to a length of from 22 to 28 cm (8.7 to 11.0 in). The adult male has a red crown and nape and is larger than the female, with a longer beak. The upper neck is striped black and white and the back and wings are boldly striped in black and gold. The rump is greenish-yellow, with some red on the feather tips, and the upper side of the tail is black with red upper-tail coverts. The underside of the wings is greyish-brown with pale spotting and barring, and the underside of the tail is grey or olive. The fore-crown is grey or buff, the face and throat are grey and the underparts are buff, brown or olive, with some dark streaking on the flanks. The iris is yellow, the beak is long, slender, and grey, and the legs are grey. The adult female is similar to the male but has a black crown and red nape. The juvenile has a black crown with white and red spotting, an orange nape, and dark iris.<p>This woodpecker is quite vocal, emitting a range of sounds including yapping, squeaking, rolling and nasal calls. Drumming is done only occasionally.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes striatus
- Authority
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
Range and habitat
It is found in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is mostly a woodland bird. Its range extends through many of Hispaniola's biomes: wet, dry, broadleaf, and coniferous forests, but also occurs in plantations, cactus scrub, mangrove areas, swamps, grasslands, palm groves, wooded agricultural areas, and urban parks.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This woodpecker forages in small noisy groups; the diet is varied and includes insects, spiders, scorpions, lizards, fruit, seeds, grain and sap. It can catch flying insects in flight, and larger food items are bashed on an "anvil" to break them up.<p>Unlike most woodpeckers, the Hispaniolan woodpecker is a social species that takes advantage of having a large number of individual adult birds in the colony to protect a nesting bank or tree. There may be twenty pairs of birds in a colony, with several nesting in the same tree. The nests are excavated in trunks and branches, and discarded holes are reused by Hispaniolan amazons, Hispaniolan parakeets, Hispaniolan trogons, Antillean piculets, and the golden swallow.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-crowned Robin-Chat
Cossypha albicapillus
A large and colorful robin-chat with a black face mask that continues onto the chin. The color of the crown is pure white in the far western part of the range, and white with black markings elsewhere. A shy bird of dense thickets, gardens, and forest, often along rivers and streams. Similar to Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, but larger, usually with black markings in the white crown, and with a black rather than orange chin. Usually detected by song, a fast and complex mix of musical whistles.
Tui Parakeet
Brotogeris sanctithomae
Small, short-tailed parakeet of lowland rainforest. Green with yellow forehead patch, light eye, and peach-colored bill. Also has blue wing feathers visible in flight, like many small green parakeets. Almost always found in pairs or groups, and is quite loud in flight, giving harsh “kreet” calls. Similar to Cobalt-winged Parakeet, but has a light eye, a yellow forehead, and slightly harsher calls.
Gray's Grasshopper Warbler
Helopsaltes fasciolatus
An odd, thrush-like warbler; extremely shy and seldom seen as it lurks about in dense undergrowth. The largest grasshopper-warbler, with a distinctly robust appearance. Matte brown with pale brow, throat, and belly. Complete lack of streaking distinguishes this species from Middendorff’s and Pallas’s grasshopper-warblers; white throat and pale brow distinguish Gray’s from the much browner Pleske’s Warbler. Slightly warmer-colored Sakhalin Grasshopper-Warbler is extremely similar but has a whiter throat, a thicker brow, and more extensive brown on the underside.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.