Celeus obrieni
Kaempfer's Woodpecker (*Celeus obrieni*) is an exceptionally rare and enigmatic member of the Picidae family, celebrated for its dramatic rediscovery after being 'lost' for 80 years. This medium-sized woodpecker measures approximately 26-27 cm (10-10.5 inches) in length, presenting a striking appearance dominated by creamy white or pale buff plumage across its head, neck, and underparts, contrasting sharply with its black flight feathers and dark tail. A distinguishing field mark for the male...
This woodpecker primarily inhabits gallery forest edges, mature deciduous forests, seasonally flooded forests, and dense bamboo thickets within the lowlands of central Brazil.
Its diet primarily consists of ants and termites, along with their larvae, which it gleans and excavates from wood and bamboo.
Kaempfer's Woodpecker is a diurnal species, typically observed foraging solitarily or in pairs. Its primary foraging strategy involves scaling tree trunks and branches, as well as bamboo culms, using its stout bill to probe crevices, glean insects from surfaces, and excavate into decaying wood fo...
Kaempfer's Woodpecker is endemic to a highly restricted and fragmented distribution within central Brazil, primarily found in the states of Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Goiás, eastern Pará, and northern Mato Grosso. Its range is associated with the unique mosaic of gallery forests and bamboo thick...
Critically Endangered
- Kaempfer's Woodpecker was 'lost' to science for 80 years, known only from a single specimen collected in 1926, before its dramatic rediscovery in 2002. - Its rediscovery occurred unexpectedly when a team of ornithologists, initially searching for antbirds, spotted the distinctive woodpecker in ...