From Opus

Celeus elegans

Photo by Gallus
Location: The Asa Wright Centre, Trinidad.

[edit] Identification

28 cm. Chestnut brown, yellow rump and flanks, brown wings, black tips to the primaries, black tail, yellow white bill. Male - red malar stripe.

[edit] Distribution

The Chestnut Woodpecker, is a resident breeding bird in South America from Trinidad, Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas south to Ecuador, Bolivia and northern Brazil.

[edit] Taxonomy

Photo by Steve Blain
Subspecies citreopygius from Ecuador

Six different subspecies share the range given above.

This species can be divided into two main groups: First are the NE races with contrasing yellowish-buff crest and a rather bright overall plumage. The second are the W. and S. races which are darker overall and with a crest that is concolour with the remaining head (i.e. no contrasting yellow-buff crest). If placing illustrations of all the races on their specific distributions on a map, one would notice that it to some extend appeared like a cline, with the darkerst and dullest in the SW part of its range (citreopygius being the extreme). The further north-east you'd get, the paler and brighter the races become, with the extreme being race leotaudi from Trinidad. In other words; the Trinidad race is brighter and paler than all other races, but if compared to the nearest race the difference is quite small, and it would be difficult to see for anyone without extensive experience in both taxa. However, if the Trinidad race was compared to the taxa from the opposite end of the cline the difference is striking and one could easily be mislead to thinking they were different species.

[edit] Habitat

The habitat of this large woodpecker is forest and other closed woodland.

[edit] Behaviour

The nest hole is in a dead tree, with the chamber floor up to 30 cm below the entrance. Three white eggs are laid.

The Chestnut Woodpecker mainly feeds low to medium in trees and bushes on insects, including termites, and some fruit, and will come to table scraps.

[edit] Vocalisation

It is a noisy species with a harsh parrot-like squawk whEEjer. Both sexes drum.

[edit] External Links