Choco Woodpecker
Dryobates chocoensis
Small, rare woodpecker restricted to very wet lowland and foothill rainforest in western Colombia and far northwestern Ecuador. Both sexes have olive back and wings, extensive dark barring on underparts, and golden nape. Male has a red crown, and female has a brown crown. Easily mistaken for the much more common Red-rumped Woodpecker, whose rump is frequently hidden by its wings. Choco has thicker, darker barring, especially on the breast, where some of the bars are tinged with copper or buff.
Identification
The Choco woodpecker is 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long and weighs about 30 g (1.1 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Males have a red crown with black feather bases that show through. The female has a dark olive-brown crown. Adults of both sexes have a mostly brownish buff face with darker streaks and a dull golden nape and hindneck. Their upperparts are mostly bronzy golden-green with some red wash, pale yellow streaks, and olive and yellowish barring on the rump and uppertail coverts. Their flight feathers are dark brown with olive-yellow edges and buffish bars. Their tail is dark brown with yellowish bars on most feathers. Their underparts are barred with olive and whitish buff. The iris is red-brown to brown, the shortish beak dark with a paler mandible, and the legs are dark olive with a green or gray tinge. Juveniles resemble adults with a streakier face; both sexes have some red on the crown, the male more than the female.
Taxonomy
The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World place the Choco woodpecker in genus Veniliornis. However, starting in 2018, the American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy moved all species of genus Veniliornis into genus Dryobates. All of these systems use the English name "Choco" rather than "Chocó".<p>The Choco woodpecker has in the past been treated as a subspecies of both the golden-collared woodpecker (V. (or D.) cassini) and then the red-stained woodpecker (V. (or D.) affinis). Since the late 1900s it has progressively been accepted as a species by major taxonomic systems.<p>The Choco woodpecker is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Dryobates chocoensis
- Authority
- Todd, 1919
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Dryobates
Range and habitat
The Choco woodpecker is found in the Chocó Biogeographic Region from Colombia's Antioquia Department south to Pichincha Province in Ecuador. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid to very wet forest, up to an elevation of 1,000 m (3,300 ft) but usually below 700 m (2,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Choco woodpecker is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Almost nothing is known about the Choco woodpecker's feeding behavior, but a pair was observed with a mixed species foraging flock in primary forest. Details of its diet are not known but are assumed to be similar to those of the red-stained woodpecker (which see here).<p>Nothing is known about the Choco woodpecker's breeding biology.<p>The Choco woodpecker's vocalizations include sharp pik notes, softer quip notes, wicka-wicka notes, and a gentle rattle.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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