Chestnut Woodpecker

Chestnut Woodpecker
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Picidae
Genus:	Celeus
Species:	C. elegans
Binomial name
Celeus elegans Muller, 1776

The Chestnut Woodpecker, Celeus elegans, is a resident breeding bird in South America from Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas south to Ecuador, Bolivia and northern Brazil, and on Trinidad.

The habitat of this large woodpecker is forest and other closed woodland. The nest hole is in a dead tree, with the chamber floor up to 30 cm below the entrance. Three white eggs are laid.

The Chestnut Woodpecker is 28 cm long and weighs 127g. It is a rich unbarred chestnut brown with a yellow rump and flanks and a yellowish crest. The wings and tail are black and the bill yellow-white. The male has a red malar stripe, but otherwise the sexes are similar.

C. e. leotaudi of Trinidad is smaller, paler, and much brighter than the mainland forms. Other subspecies have differing crest colours.

The Chestnut Woodpecker mainly feeds in trees and bushes on insects, including termites, and some fruit, and will come to table scraps. It is a noisy species with a harsh parrot-like squawk whEEjer. Both sexes drum.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Celeus elegans. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5. 

External links

• Chestnut Woodpecker videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Chestnut Woodpecker photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res
• Photo-High Res; Article geometer.org–(Trinidad and Tobago)