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Cuban Green Woodpecker - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 23:07, 27 November 2018 by Jmorlan (talk | contribs) (→‎References: Updated and expanded)
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Male
Photo by tedardley
Cayo Ensenachos, Cuba
Xiphidiopicus percussus

Identification

  • Olive green back
  • Yellow below, dark streaked
  • White head
  • Thick black stripe behind the eye
  • Small red throat patch
  • Male - red crown
  • Female - white streaked, black forecrown; red nape; shorter bill
Female
Photo by jdbirdman
Coastal Cuba, June 2003

Distribution

Endemic to Cuba and some small adjacent islands.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies[1]:

  • X. p. percussus:
  • X. p. insulaepinorum:
  • Isle of Pines, Cantiles Keys and Archipelago Jardines de la Reina

Four additional subspecies are not generally recognised: monticola, marthae, cocoensis and gloriae[2].

Habitat

Dry forests with pine, and coastal vegetation.

Behaviour

Main source of foods is insects and other invertebrates, but has for a while been known to also eat fruit. Recent observations show that the Cuban Green Woodpecker also will drink nectar from some flowers and that they in doing so actually help pollinating those flowers.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Arthur Grosset
  4. Dalsgaard, B. 2011. Nectar feeding and pollination by the Cuban Green Woodpecker (Xiphidiopicus percussus) in the West Indies. Ornithologia Neotropical 22(3):447-451
  5. Farnsworth, Andrew. 2012. Cuban Green Woodpecker (Xiphidiopicus percussus), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online

Recommended Citation

External Links

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