Colaptes punctigula
The Spot-breasted Woodpecker (*Colaptes punctigula*) is a medium-sized, strikingly patterned member of the Picidae family, closely related to North American flickers. Measuring approximately 20-23 cm (8-9 inches) in length, it is characterized by its heavily spotted underparts, which give the species its common name. Its dorsal plumage is barred black and white or olive, while its flight feathers exhibit vibrant yellow-gold shafts, visible particularly during flight. Males typically display a...
This adaptable woodpecker primarily inhabits a range of open to semi-open wooded environments, including savannas, gallery forests, cultivated lands, plantations, parks, and suburban gardens. It is typically found from sea level up to elevations of around 2,000 meters (6,500 feet), occasionally h...
Primarily insectivorous, its diet mainly consists of ants and termites, which it extracts from the ground or decaying wood. It occasionally supplements its diet with other invertebrates, small larvae, and sometimes fruits or berries.
The Spot-breasted Woodpecker is generally diurnal, foraging actively during daylight hours and roosting in tree cavities at night. Like its congeners, it exhibits a strong preference for ground-foraging, systematically probing into soil and leaf litter for ants and termites, though it also gleans...
The Spot-breasted Woodpecker boasts a wide and largely continuous distribution across much of northern and central South America. Its range extends from northern Venezuela and Colombia, south through Ecuador, eastern Peru, and Bolivia, reaching into western and central Brazil. This species is pri...
Least Concern
- The Spot-breasted Woodpecker is a close relative of the Northern Flicker (*Colaptes auratus*), sharing many behavioral traits like ground-foraging. - Unlike many woodpeckers that climb tree trunks, this species spends a significant portion of its foraging time on the ground. - Its genus name *C...