Black-throated woodpecker

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Black-throated woodpecker
Black-throated woodpecker, male

Black-throated woodpecker, male

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family : Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Genre : Campephilus
Type : Black-throated woodpecker
Scientific name
Campephilus melanoleucos
( Gmelin , 1788)
female
Female in whom the white lines converging in a V-shape on the back are clearly visible.

The black-throated woodpecker ( Campephilus melanoleucos ) is a very large species of the long-crested woodpecker , which occurs in parts of Central and South America. Among the long-crested woodpeckers, the black-throated woodpecker has the largest distribution area.

The species is classified as not endangered ( least concern ) by the IUCN . There are three subspecies.

Characteristics of the adult woodpecker

The black-throated woodpecker reaches a body length between 33 and 38 centimeters and a weight between 181 and 284 grams. The sexes can be differentiated based on the head drawing. In the male, the head including the pointed feather hood is predominantly red. The reins are light cream in color. Below the ear covers there is an oval spot, the upper half of which is black and the lower half is white. The female, on the other hand, has a red bonnet like the male. However, only the upper sides of the head are red. A white to light brown line runs from the base of the beak over the lower cheeks to the nape of the neck. This band is bordered in black at the top and bottom. It also has a black line in the middle of the parting.

The top of the body is mainly black in both sexes with white lines that run down the sides of the throat and shoulders and join into a V on the back. The throat, neck and chest are black. The rest of the underside is striped in black and white, while the wings are white in flight.

Fledglings and subadults

Young birds and subadults of both sexes initially resemble the female. Overall, however, they are more dull in color and are broadly banded across the underside of the body.

Distribution area and habitat

The distribution area of ​​the black-throated woodpecker extends from it in Panama to the border areas of Argentina . It is also found on Trinidad , an island in the Caribbean Sea that is the largest island in the Lesser Antilles . Three subspecies are distinguished in the large distribution area:

  • C. m. malherbii GR Gray, 1845 - The range of this subspecies extends from the west of Panama in an easterly direction to the north and the central area of ​​Colombia.
  • C. m. melanoleucos (JF Gmelin, 1788) - The very large distribution area of ​​the nominate form extends from the east of the Andes via Colombia to Trinidad and northeast Brazil. The nominate form also comes to Bolivia, Paraguay and the north and northeast of Argentina as well as the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso .
  • C. m. cearae (Cory, 1915) - The range of this subspecies is limited to the northeast of Brazil: it extends from Maranhão to Ceará and Bahia .

The habitat of the black-throated woodpecker is limited to open and closed forest areas. He mostly builds his nesting hole in dead tree trunks, the entrance of which measures between 45 and 50 centimeters in diameter.

Way of life

Females lay 2 to 3 white eggs, rarely four, which are incubated by both parents for 9 to 14 days. The short breeding period is followed by a relatively long nesting period in which the young are warmed and fed by both parents. They stay with their parents until the next breeding season begins.

The main diet of the black-throated woodpecker includes insects that live under the bark of trees, as well as ants , termites , small vertebrates and caterpillars .

literature

  • Richard ffrench: A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago , 2nd. Edition, Comstock Publishing, 1991, ISBN 0-8014-9792-2 .
  • Gerard Gorman: Woodpeckers of the World: The Complete Guide. Christopher Helm / Bloomsbury, 2014, ISBN 978-1408147153
  • Steven L Hilty: Birds of Venezuela . Christopher Helm, London 2003, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5 .

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ^ Gorman: Woodpeckers of the World: The Complete Guide. , P. 410
  2. ↑ a b Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Schwarzkehlspecht , accessed on October 13, 2017
  3. ^ Gorman: Woodpeckers of the World: The Complete Guide. , P. 408