Red-crowned Woodpecker

About the Red-crowned Woodpecker

The red-crowned woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) is a species of bird in the subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and Tobago. The red-crowned woodpecker has sometimes been placed in the genus Centurus. It has also sometimes been treated as conspecific with the Yucatan woodpecker (M. pygmaeus) and some authors consider them a superspecies.

The red-crowned woodpecker has these four subspecies: M. r. rubricapillus (Cabanis, 1862) M. r. subfusculus (Wetmore, 1957) M. r. seductus Bangs, 1901 M. r. paraguanae (Gilliard, 1940) The validity of subspecies M. r. paraguanae has been challenged, and some other subspecies have been proposed but not accepted as valid.

The red-crowned woodpecker is 16 to 18.5 cm (6.3 to 7.3 in) long and weighs 40 to 65 g (1.4 to 2.3 oz). The sexes' plumage is alike except for their head pattern. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a pale yellow to whitish forehead, a bright red crown, and an orange-red nape and hindneck. Adult females have the same pale yellow to whitish forehead but a pale gray-buff to whitish crown... Wikipedia →