Powerful Woodpecker

About the Powerful Woodpecker

The powerful woodpecker (Campephilus pollens) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The powerful woodpecker was for a time placed in genus Scapaneus, which was merged into genus Phloeoceastes, which in turn was merged into the current Campephilus. The powerful woodpecker has two subspecies, the nominate C. p. pollens (Bonaparte, 1845) and P. c. peruvianus (Cory, 1915).

The powerful woodpecker is about 32 cm (13 in) long. The sexes differ only on their heads: Adult males are red from their forehead to their crest; females are black there. Both sexes of the nominate subspecies have a black and white face including the throat; the white is a wide band from the lores to below the rear of the ear coverts and from there down the side of the neck. Both sexes have a black hindneck, mantle, scapulars, and upper back with narrow white stripes on either side. Their lower back and rump are white and their uppertail coverts black. Their wings' top surface is black with white tips on the primaries and some white spots or bars on the secondaries. Their wings' undersides are... Wikipedia →