Red-crowned woodpecker
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2014) |
| Red-crowned woodpecker | |
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| female M. r. rubricapillus, Columbia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Genus: | Melanerpes |
| Species: | M. rubricapillus
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| Binomial name | |
| Melanerpes rubricapillus (Cabanis, 1862)
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The red-crowned woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) is a resident breeding bird from southwestern Costa Rica south to Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Tobago.
This woodpecker occurs in forests and semi-open woodland and cultivation. It nests in a hole in a dead tree or large cactus. The clutch is two eggs, incubated by both sexes, which fledge after 31–33 days.
Adults are 20.5 cm (8.1 in) long and weigh 48 g (1.7 oz). They have a zebra-barred black and white back and wings and a white rump. The tail is black with some white barring, and the underparts are pale buff-brown.
The male has a red crown patch and nape. The female has a buff crown and duller nape. Immature birds are duller, particularly in the red areas of the head and neck.
Red-crowned woodpeckers feed on insects, but will take fruit and visit nectar feeders.
This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling krrrrrl call and both sexes drum on territory.
Gallery
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_female.jpg)
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Melanerpes rubricapillus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
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- Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
- ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton; Eckelberry, Don R. (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
External links
- "Red-crowned woodpecker media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Red-crowned woodpecker Stamps from Venezuela at bird-stamps.org
- Red-crowned woodpecker photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Red-crowned woodpecker species account at Neotropical Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
- Interactive range map of Melanerpes rubricapillus at IUCN Red List maps
- Audio recordings of Red-crowned woodpecker on Xeno-canto.