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Subspecies pygmaeus
Photo by njlarsen
Cozumel, Mexico, 30 April 2012

Melanerpes pygmaeus

[edit] Identification

Wihtin range, the yellow-golden feather tufts around the base of the bill are diagnostic. Also has wider white bars on the back than the local subspecies of Golden-fronted Woodpecker.
The juvenile shares the barred back, but the rest is rather evenly grey.

[edit] Similar species

Golden-fronted Woodpecker in this area has red tufts around the bas of the bill

[edit] Distribution

Central America: found in Yucatán Peninsula and Cozumel Island (Mexico), Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• M. p. rubricomus:

• Yucatán Peninsula to central Belize

• M. p. pygmaeus:

• Cozumel Island

• M. p. tysoni:

• Guanaja Island (off Honduras)

[edit] Habitat

Dry forests and shrubland.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase

• List of references

[edit] External Links