Gray-crowned Woodpecker
Colaptes auricularis
The only species of overall green woodpecker in west Mexico; endemic. Favors tropical forests and shade-coffee plantations in foothills. Forages mainly at middle to upper levels of larger trees, where can be very sluggish and easily overlooked unless its calls are known. Both sexes have a gray crown, green back, and barred underparts. Male has broad red mustache.
Identification
The grey-crowned woodpecker is 19.5 to 21 cm (7.7 to 8.3 in) long and weighs about 65 g (2.3 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Adult males have a light gray crown and nape. They are pale brownish buff on their lores and sides of the head, sometimes with indistinct grayish bars. They have a wide red stripe below the brownish buff and a dull white chin and upper throat; the last has dull grayish bars. Adult females have no red on their head. Both sexes have mostly pale olive to olive green upperparts; their rump and uppertail coverts are barred with pale yellow or yellowish white. Their wings are a brighter olive green than the back. Their tail is pale yellowish olive green with dusky tips on the central feathers and sometimes darker bars or spots on the outer ones. Their underparts are yellowish white or pale yellowish with irregular olive bars. Their bill is dark gray, their iris brown, and the legs gray. Juveniles resemble adult females with less distinct barring on the underparts; the male's red facial stripe is mixed with gray.
Taxonomy
The grey-crowned woodpecker was originally described as Chloronerpes auricularis. It was later placed in genus Piculus but since about 2007 has been moved into Colaptes by taxonomic systems.<p>The grey-crowned woodpecker is similar to the wide-ranging golden-olive woodpecker (C. rubiginosus) and has been treated as a subspecies of it. Some authors have treated the two as a superspecies. In addition, research since 2010 has found that the golden-olive woodpecker is not monophyletic, with some subspecies being more closely related to the grey-crowned woodpecker than they are to other golden-olive subspecies.<p>The specific epithet auricularis means "eared", an appearance created by the confluent, fine patterning of the species' head.[citation needed]<p>The grey-crowned woodpecker is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Colaptes auricularis
- Authority
- (Salvin & Godman, 1889)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Colaptes
Range and habitat
The grey-crowned woodpecker is found in western Mexico from southern Sonora and Chihuahua to southern Oaxaca. It inhabits the interior and edges of semi-humid and humid forest, and is also found locally in pine-oak forest. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 2,400 m (7,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The grey-crowned woodpecker is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The grey-crowned woodpecker forages at all levels from the ground to the forest canopy. Its diet is not known in detail but does include termites, other invertebrates, and berries.<p>The grey-crowned woodpecker's breeding season has not been fully determined but includes at least March and April. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>What is thought to be the grey-crowned woodpecker's song is "a rapid, shrill, churring rattle". It also makes "a sharp, slightly explosive kea'ah [and] a gruff mewing growh". Its drum is "short and rapid".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Narina Trogon
Apaloderma narina
A spectacular, mostly iridescent-metallic-green bird, with a scarlet belly, broad yellow bill, and white under tail. The face and throat of the male are green, while the females’ are dirty gray-brown. It sits upright and still in the canopy of riverine and lowland forest, watching for insect prey, then flying fast and directly to catch it. During the breeding season, its soft, deep, throaty “huooo-huooo” call makes it much easier to find. The similar Bare-cheeked Trogon differs by having a face with a large bare yellow skin patches that extend from cheek to bill--not small blue-green spots. Bar-tailed Trogon has a heavily-barred undertail and prefers montane forest above 900 m.
Ashy Prinia
Prinia socialis
A common prinia that is likely to occur in all habitats except for woodlands with a thick canopy. All birds have a black bill, pale cinnamon underparts, a gray head, and a grayish-brown back. Nonbreeding birds acquire a short eyebrow and a longer tail. There is a marked variation in plumage tones in various parts of its range. It usually sticks to the undergrowth and shrubbery, though individuals often sing from a higher perch such as wires. Usually occurring in ones and twos, and it can be quite bold and fearless. It has a loud ringing song that is given year-round and a plain nasal call.
Golden-bellied Flycatcher
Myiodynastes hemichrysus
Large and often noisy flycatcher of montane cloud forest. Yellow underparts, dark face, and white head stripes are suggestive of Great Kiskadee, but note that Golden-bellied Flycatcher has a white moustache stripe rather than a white throat; it is also found mainly at higher elevations. Birds from South America and eastern Panama have olive streaks on the breast; they were formerly considered subspecies of Golden-crowned Flycatcher. Perches at middle to upper levels of the forest, where it gives loud squeak- toy-like calls.
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