White-throated Woodpecker
Piculus leucolaemus
Medium-sized woodpecker with a bold, yellow stripe through its face. Inhabits lowland and foothill rainforest. Both sexes have olive-green back, scaled breast, and barred belly. Male has red crown and mustache stripe; female has red only on hindcrown. Similar to Yellow-throated Woodpecker, but a white throat and much less yellow on face. Compared to Golden-green Woodpecker, breast is scaled (not barred), and eye is dark. Forages at middle to upper levels of the forest, often with mixed-species flocks. Typical call is a hoarse scream.
Identification
The white-throated woodpecker is about 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long and weighs about 69 g (2.4 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Males are red from forehead to hindneck and very widely on the malar (cheek); the latter has a wide yellow stripe above it.The female has red only on the nape but is otherwise the same as the male. Adults of both sexes have the eponymous white chin and throat. Their upperparts are bronze-green. Their flight feathers are mostly dark brown with pale cinnamon-rufous on the inner webs. Their tail is blackish with greenish edges on the feathers. Their upper breast is yellowish green; the feathers have pale centers and dark tips. The rest of their underparts are white with olive barring. Their shortish beak is blackish to gray, their iris dark brown to red-brown, and the legs dark olive to blackish. Juveniles are greener than adults and males have red only from the rear crown to the hindneck.
Taxonomy
The white-throated woodpecker was originally described as Picus leucolaemus. Since its inclusion in Piculus it has at times been considered conspecific with the rufous-winged woodpecker (P. simplex), the stripe-cheeked woodpecker (P. callopterus), and the Lita woodpecker (P. litae); the four may form a superspecies. It and just the Lita woodpecker have also been treated as conspecific. The white-throated woodpecker is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Piculus leucolaemus
- Authority
- (Natterer & Malherbe, 1845)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Piculus
Range and habitat
The white-throated woodpecker is found from far southwestern Colombia south on the east side of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes to central Bolivia. Disjunct populations are also in west and central Amazonian Brazil. It inhabits mature humid terra firme forest and várzea forest. It is a bird of the lowlands and foothills, reaching elevations of 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Ecuador and 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in Peru.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
As far as is known, the white-throated woodpecker is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The white-throated woodpecker usually forages alone, sometimes in pairs, and also joins mixed species feeding flocks. It forages at the mid- to upper levels of the forest and typically feeds by probing and flaking off bark. Its diet is not known but is assumed to include adult and larval insects.<p>Nothing is known about the white-throated woodpecker's breeding biology.<p>The white-throated woodpecker's vocalization is a "hoarse/hissing 'sraa-sraa-sraa-" or drawn-out, hissing, lowered 'wheeeeee'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-shouldered Blackbird
Agelaius assimilis
A mostly black inhabitant of swamps and marshes. The male has a telltale orange-red shoulder patch with pale yellow trim, which the female lacks. Both sexes of Tawny-shouldered Blackbird have a yellow-orange shoulder, though the shoulder color is sometimes only visible in flight. The Shiny Cowbird lacks a shoulder patch, is quite glossy, and has a shorter and stouter bill than Red-shouldered Blackbird. The call is a “chut” or “chut-chut” and song is a shrill “Shuh-reee-eee.”
West Mexican Chachalaca
Ortalis poliocephala
Noisy, long-tailed game bird of tropical forest and edge, usually found in small groups. Most often detected by its raucous song, which carries well. It feeds on fruit and plant material on the ground and also high in trees, where it runs along branches. For a big bird, it can be surprisingly hard to see. It is wary in areas where it is hunted and it slips away from view quite easily. In southwest Chiapas, the smaller White-bellied Chachalaca lives in coastal lowlands, while the West Mexican Chachalaca lives in foothills.
Tepui Spinetail
Cranioleuca demissa
Small, creeping bird of highland forest canopy. Chestnut cap, wings, and tail contrast with olive-brown back and gray underparts. At close range, note somewhat decurved bill. Found only in humid highland forests of the tepui region (above 800 m), particularly in areas with heavy growth of mosses and epiphytes. Forages by hitching up large branches and tree trunks, and also creeps along limbs, inspecting bromeliads and bark crevices from which it gleans insect prey. Often encountered with mixed-species flocks. Voice is a long series of high tinkling notes, dropping in pitch and accelerating. No similar species occurs in tepui highlands.
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