Cream-backed Woodpecker

About the Cream-backed Woodpecker

The cream-backed woodpecker (Campephilus leucopogon) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The cream-backed woodpecker was for a time placed in genus Scapaneus that was later merged into genus Phloeoceastes that was itself merged into the current genus Campephilus. The cream-backed woodpecker is monotypic.

The cream-backed woodpecker is 28 to 30 cm (11 to 12 in) long and weighs 203 to 281 g (7.2 to 9.9 oz). Adult males have a crest; their head, crest, and neck are entirely red but for a small black and white spot on the ear coverts. Adult females have a longer crest than males and do not have the covert spot. They have a creamy band from the bill to the ear coverts with black above it that surrounds the eye and extends along the front of the crest, and also a thinner black line below the creamy band. The rest of their head is red and their neck is black. Adults of both sexes are mostly black below the neck. They have a whitish upper back with pale cinnamon-buff feather tips and sometimes a few buff and black barred feathers in the center... Wikipedia →