Celeus flavus
The Cream-colored Woodpecker (Celeus flavus) is a strikingly distinctive Neotropical woodpecker, easily recognized by its predominantly pale, golden-yellow to creamy plumage and prominent, shaggy crest. Measuring 24-27 cm (9.4-10.6 in) in length and weighing 90-130g, it possesses dark brown to black primary flight feathers, rump, and tail, which provide a stark contrast to its lighter body. A key field mark distinguishing the sexes is the bright red malar (cheek) stripe present only in the ma...
Found primarily in tropical and subtropical moist lowland forests, including riparian woodlands, gallery forests, and secondary growth. It prefers areas near water and is typically found at elevations below 1000 meters.
Primarily myrmecophagous, feeding extensively on ants and termites, which it extracts from nests and decaying wood. It also supplements its diet with small amounts of fruit and berries.
The Cream-colored Woodpecker is a diurnal species, generally active from dawn to dusk, often roosting in tree cavities. Its foraging strategy is specialized, primarily involving breaking into arboreal and terrestrial nests of ants and termites with powerful blows of its yellowish bill, and then c...
The Cream-colored Woodpecker is a widespread resident throughout the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America. Its extensive breeding and year-round range encompasses eastern Colombia, southern and eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It extends south through eastern Ecuador,...
Least Concern
- The Cream-colored Woodpecker is often considered an 'ant and termite specialist,' with a diet heavily reliant on these social insects. - Males are easily identified by their bright red malar stripe, a splash of color against their otherwise pale plumage. - Its shaggy, prominent crest can be rai...