Pale-billed Woodpecker
Encyclopedia
The Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) is a very large woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....

 that is a resident breeding bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 from northern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to western Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

.

Habitat

The habitat of this species is wet forests and adjacent second growth or semi-open woodland. Two white eggs are laid in an unlined nest hole 3–30 m high in a tree and incubated by both sexes. The young hatch naked and are fed by both parents.

Description

The Pale-billed Woodpecker is 37 cm long and weighs 255 g. It resembles the Lineated Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
The Lineated Woodpecker is a very large woodpecker which is a resident breeding bird from Mexico south to northern Argentina and on Trinidad.-Description:The Lineated Woodpecker is long...

, but is larger and more robust.

The adult is mainly black above with a pale bill, bushy crest, and white lines down the shoulders which almost meet in a V on its back. The throat is black and the rest of the underparts are white, heavily barred with black. The male has a red head and crest; the female is similar, but the crest and throat are black. The female can be distinguished from Lineated Woodpecker by the absence of a white facial stripe.

This bird has a diagnostice drumming with two quick powerful taps. Its call include nasal rattles and a keeu keeu keeu keeu breeding call.

Pale-billed Woodpeckers chip out holes, often quite large, while searching out insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s in trees. They mainly eat beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

 larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e, with some berries,lizards, or other fruit.

This bird has been adversely affected by deforestation in parts of its range.

External links

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