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✎ Camila Espinosa

✎ Camila Espinosa

✎ Camilo Alméciga

Crimson-crested Woodpecker
Campephilus melanoleucosPacific region

  • Generalities
  • Morpho-functionality
  • Lifecycle
  • Distribution

RECORRIDO VIRTUAL POR LA BIODIVERSIDAD DE COLOMBIA
Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Crimson-crested Woodpecker
Campephilus melanoleucos

They reach up to 38 cm in length and weigh of 284 g. They are skillful at using prey hunting techniques, usually on dead logs. They feed on caterpillars, ants, termites, beetles, and sometimes fruits. It is common to see them foraging in the lower layers of the forest. They can be found in pairs or small groups.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near Threatened

Least Concern

Not Evaluated

Data Deficient

Morpho-functionality

Tail

The tail has two rigid central feathers that allow them to distribute their weight against the tree.

Legs

Their legs and tail have an optimal morphology for climbing trees vertically and to support the body of the bird while it is drilling its nest or looking for food.

Tongue and bleak

The tongue is longer than the beak, it wraps around the skull creating a cushion for the brain during tapping.

Lifecycle

Their reproductive period has been recorded in the country in December and May. Their nest consists of a hole made in a tree by the couple. They lay two to four eggs and parental care is carried out by both sexes. The young remain in the parents territory until the next breeding season arrives.

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Distribution

It inhabits a wide variety of ecosystems such as cloud forests, gallery forests, rain forests and savannahs, among others. In Colombia we can find it in the eastern and central mountain ranges and up to the Amazon, its altitudinal distribution reaches up to 3,100 m.

Distribution area