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==Habitat== | ==Habitat== | ||
| − | Open woods in dry country and river bottoms with trees.<BR>This familiar woodpecker is common in the parks and shade trees of Texas towns and cities. A southwestern species, it is a close relative of and resembles the [[Red-bellied Woodpecker]] found mainly in the Southeast." | + | Open woods in dry country and river bottoms with trees.<BR>This familiar woodpecker is common in the parks and shade trees of Texas towns and cities. A southwestern species, it is a close relative of and resembles the [[Red-bellied Woodpecker]] found mainly in the Southeast." It is the most commonly observed woodpecker in much of Mexico and northern Central America |
==Behaviour== | ==Behaviour== | ||
Revision as of 18:46, 12 November 2007
- Melanerpes aurifrons
Identification
9 1/2" (24 cm). Barred with black and white above and buff below, like Red-bellied Woodpecker, but male has red restricted to cap (though red extends right down the nape in some subspecies to the south of the range of Red-bellied Woodpecker); nape orange; forecrown yellow; female lacks red but has orange nape. Voice: Loud churrrr. Call a burry chuck-chuck-chuck.
Distribution
Resident from southwestern Oklahoma and central Texas down through Mexico and all of northern Central America to Nicaragua.
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia -> Phylum: Chordata -> Class: Aves -> Order: Passeriformes -> Family: Picadae -> Genus: Melanerpes -> Species: M. aurifrons
The species name aurifrons is Latin for "gold-fronted"
Habitat
Open woods in dry country and river bottoms with trees.
This familiar woodpecker is common in the parks and shade trees of Texas towns and cities. A southwestern species, it is a close relative of and resembles the Red-bellied Woodpecker found mainly in the Southeast." It is the most commonly observed woodpecker in much of Mexico and northern Central America
Behaviour
Nesting 4 or 5 white eggs in holes in mesquite trees, poles, and posts.
