Black-cheeked woodpecker

Melanerpes pucherani

The black-cheeked woodpecker is a resident breeding bird from southeastern Mexico south to western Ecuador.
This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling ''krrrrrl'' call and both sexes drum on territory.
Melanerpes pucherani  Black-cheeked woodpecker,Melanerpes pucherani

Appearance

The adult is 18.5 cm long and weighs 63 g. It has black upperparts with white barring on the back, white spotting on the wings and a white rump. The tail is black with some white barring, and the underparts are pale buff-olive with a red central belly. There is a black patch through the eyes and on the cheeks, a yellow forehead, and a red nape. The crown is red in the male and black in the female. Young birds are duller, have less white above and less red on the belly.
Black-cheeked woodpecker, Tumaco, Colombia Opening our last half-day of the program. The day before, we arrived at the city of Tumaco, reaching elevation zero and seeing the Pacific ocean. We were situated in a very luxurious hotel at the beach. Given that we have had such an intense journey behind us, I had wanted to call it a mission completed. The luxury was so tempting and I was already very satisfied with the set. Let me have a day of peace.

Manuel insisted that we had to go out birding one final time, so we got up early, picked up a local birding guide and drove for about an hour away from the coast again to find ourselves at an agricultural area with some pretty decent bird activity.  Black-cheeked woodpecker,Colombia,Colombia 2018,Colombia South,Fall,Geotagged,Melanerpes pucherani,South America,Tumaco,World

Naming

The binomial commemorates the French zoologist Jacques Pucheran.
Black-cheeked Woodpecker Charming woodpecker above the laguna Black-cheeked woodpecker,Costa Rica,Melanerpes pucherani,maquenque lodge

Habitat

This woodpecker occurs in the higher levels of wet forests, semi-open woodland and old second growth. It nests in an unlined hole 6–30 m high in a dead tree. The clutch is two to four glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.
Melanerphes pucherani  Black-cheeked woodpecker,Melanerpes pucherani

Food

The black-cheeked woodpecker feeds on insects, but will take substantial quantities of fruit and nectar.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderPiciformes
FamilyPicidae
GenusMelanerpes
SpeciesM. pucherani