After 3 trips to Colombia with diminishing returns, it was time to go further afield. Pablo Flores the guide in Colombia is now leading trips to Brazil as well. So my birding buddy Martin Jackson and my daughter Chantel and I decided to go there. We visited the Pantanal, the Atlantic forest in the Sao Paulo area and had 1 day in the Chapada. The Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world, so it is teeming with wildlife. The Atlantic Forest is a unique ecosystem from sea level to about 1 mile elevation. It contains 800 species of birds (225 endemic) and 26 species of primates. Unfortunately it also contains 2 mega cities - Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and the resulting sprawl and clearing for agriculture since the Portuguese arrived 500 years ago, has wiped out 90%+ of the original forest. About 250 species of amphibians, birds and mammals have gone extinct in the past 400 years. The good news is that many preserves and parks have been set aside to try and preserve the remaining biodiversity.
Piculets are the smallest woodpeckers and are always a treat to see and photograph. The 3.25" male White-wedged Piculet (Picumnus albosquamatus) is a hummingbird sized woodpecker with an olive back and the face and underparts are black and white. The male here has the red forehead.
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| White-wedged Piculet - male |
The 6" female Little Woodpecker (Veniliornis passerinus) has plain brown wings and back. The underside is striped. The male would have a red nape. She must have been excited as she appears to have a crest.
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| Little Woodpecker - female |
The 7" female White-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes cactorum) is at her nest hole. She has a black back, white spotting on the wings and tail and a white forehead.
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| White-fronted Woodpecker - female |
Her cousin is the 7.5" male Yellow-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes flavifrons). He is a spectacular woodpecker.
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| Yellow-fronted Woodpecker - male |
The 8" female Yellow-browed Woodpecker (Piculus aurulentus) was way high in the tree, so the photo is not the best. The yellow brow extends to the back of the neck and can be seen. The female just has a red nape. The male has the whole top of his head red.
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| Yellow-browed Woodpecker - female |
The most unusual was the 10" White Woodpecker (Leuconerpes candidus). He has black wings, back and tail, but is otherwise white. The bare orbital skin is yellow. Also unusual for a woodpecker is that they fly very high and on a flat trajectory rather that the undulating flight that is most common for woodpeckers. Their diet is mostly fruit with some insects.
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| White Woodpecker |
The celeus genus of woodpeckers is my favorite. They are large birds with yellow heads and big crests. The 10" female Pale-crested Woodpecker (Celeus lugubris) is brown with the big yellow crest. The male would have a red malar stripe.
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| Pale-crested Woodpecker - female |
Her cousin is the 11" male Blonde-crested Woodpecker (Celeus flavescens). His body is black with a yellow scaly appearance. The head is all yellow with the red malar stripe and the huge punk rock crest. What a bird!
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| Blonde-crested Woodpecker - male |
The 12" female Campo Flicker (Colaptes campestris) is another easy ID. The male would have a red malar stripe.
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| Campo Flicker |
The largest is the common 13.5" female Lineated Woodpecker (Drycopus lineatus). I think I have seen this bird on every trip to Latin America.
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| Lineated Woodpecker - female |
I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing
David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com
photos copyright 2006 - 2023 David McDonald
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