White-fronted Woodpecker
Melanerpes cactorum
Medium-sized pied woodpecker. Has a white forehead and a yellow or white throat and is grayish below with a barred mantle and tail. Note the often-concealed red patch on the crown of the male, absent in females. Found in dry forests, gallery forests, and montane scrub, usually in association with cacti. Call is a nasal “weep-weep.”
Identification
The adult white-fronted woodpecker is about 17 cm (7 in) in length. The sexes are similar in appearance except for a small patch of red, not always visible, on the crown in males. The crown, nape and upper parts are glossy black, apart from a thin white line running from a white nape patch down the centre of the back. A black mask surrounds the eye and extends to the mantle. The upper side of the wings is bluish-black, boldly barred with white, and the underside is browner. The upper side of the tail is black with white markings and the underside is browner. The fore-crown and cheeks are white, and the chin and throat are white, yellow or buff. The breast and belly are some shade of grey, with indistinct barring on the flanks and lower belly. The iris is reddish-brown, the beak greyish-black and the legs grey. Juveniles are similar to the adults but are generally a duller black, the underparts being more heavily barred, and both sexes having traces of red or orange on the mid-crown.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes cactorum
- Authority
- (d'Orbigny, 1840)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
Range and habitat
The white-fronted woodpecker is native to central South America. Its range includes southeastern Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, northern Argentina, Paraguay and southeastern Brazil. Its typical habitat is chaco, savannah and semi-desert with scattered trees, shrubs and cacti. It also occurs in palm groves, gallery forest and agricultural land with scattered trees. It lives at altitudes of up to 2,500 m (8,000 ft). It is a non-migratory, sedentary species.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Streak-capped Treehunter
Thripadectes virgaticeps
Medium-sized brownish bird of Andean subtropical zone from Venezuela to Ecuador. Overall warm brown, more rufous on wings and tail. Faint buffy streaking mostly restricted to head, barely extending onto upper breast. Less streaking than Striped and Black-billed Treehunters; especially note unstreaked back. Larger and heavier-billed than foliage-gleaners. Found from 1,300–2,100 m, usually in understory of cloud forest and edges. Usually skulky and difficult to see; only occasionally joins mixed-species flocks.
Crimson-headed Partridge
Haematortyx sanguiniceps
Unmistakable black partridge with a bright red head (hence the alternative name, “Bloodhead”). Inhabits Bornean montane forest (roughly 1000–1700 m) but may be encountered outside this altitudinal range. Gives a loud, ringing, somewhat metallic “ring-YING, ring-YING, ring-YING”.
Brown Honeyeater
Lichmera indistincta
Smallish honeyeater with a curved black bill. Grayish overall, with yellowish panels in the wings and tail, and a dark smudge around the eye. Also note bright yellow speckle behind the eye if seen well. In areas of overlap, juvenile Brown Honeyeaters are regularly confused with Dusky Honeyeaters (which are a darker sooty-brown and lack the yellow wing panel). Social and noisy, moving in active flocks. Found in a wide variety of habitats, including mangroves, forests, parks/gardens, and arid inland areas. Very vocal with a wide variety of chattering calls.
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