The Andean flicker (''Colaptes rupicola'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in subfamily Picinae of the

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Andean flicker was for a time placed in genus ''Soroplex'' that was later merged into ''Colaptes''. It and the Chilean flicker (''C. pitius'') are sister species.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 The American Ornithological Society, the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

, and the Clements taxonomy assign three subspecies to the Andean flicker: the nominate ''C. r. rupicola'' (

D'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...

, 1840), ''C. r. cinereicapillus'' ( Reichenbach, 1854), and ''C. r. puna'' ( Cabanis, 1883).Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022 Both ''C. r. cinereicapillus'' and ''C. r. puna'' have at one time been treated as separate species.

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

's ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' includes ''puna'' with the nominate as the "southern Andean flicker" and treats ''cinereicapillus'' as the separate species "northern Andean flicker".HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022 This article follows the three-subspecies model.

Description

The Andean flicker is about long. Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Adult males of the nominate subspecies are dark slate gray from forehead to hindneck; the last occasionally has a hint of red. Their face, chin, and throat are pale buffy white with a thin black malar stripe with red tips on the feathers. Adult females have an all-black malar stripe and never any red on the hindneck. Both sexes' upperparts are barred with brown, light brown, and buffy white ; their uppertail coverts are white with narrow dark bars. Their flight feathers are dark brown with narrow pale buff bars. The top side of their tail is black; the central and outermost feathers have thin paler bars. Their tail's underside is dark brown with sometimes yellowish on the outer edge. Their underparts are whitish with a variable orange-buff wash on the breast and small blackish marks there and sometimes on the flanks. Their long bill is black, their iris lemon yellow, and the legs yellowish gray, greenish, or grayish pink. Juveniles are duller than adults but with pale blue or reddish brown eyes, and they have buff tips on the rear crown feathers and bar-like rather than spotted underparts. Males usually have some red on their nape.del Hoyo, J., H. Winkler, D. A. Christie, and N. Collar (2022). Andean Flicker (''Colaptes rupicola''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.andfli1.01.1 retrieved January 30, 2023 Subspecies ''C. r. puna'' is similar to the nominate but is darker both above and below. The markings on its breast are larger, the tail usually less barred, and the legs dull greenish. The female's malar stripe often is indistinct and both sexes have a dark red patch on their hindneck. Subspecies ''C. r. cinereicapillus'' is significantly different from the nominate. Its face, throat, and breast are rich tan-buff, the belly and rump yellow-buff, and the breast has black bars rather than spots. It has no red on its nape and the red tips on its malar feathers are only on the back few rather than on all of them.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''C. r. cinereicapillus'' the Andean flicker is the northernmost. It is found from

Loja Province Loja Province () is one of 24 Provinces of Ecuador, provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west with El Oro Province, on the north with El Azuay, and on the east with Zamora-Chinchipe Province, Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on i ...

in extreme southern Ecuador south into central Peru as far as the departments of Pasco and Junín. ''C. r. puna'' is found in central and southern Peru. The nominate ''C. r. rupicola'' is found from northern Chile's

Tarapacá Region The Tarapacá Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order Administrative divisions of Chile, administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Iquique Province, Iquique and Tamarugal Province, Tamarugal. It borders the Chilean Arica y Par ...

through western, southern, and central Bolivia into northwestern Argentina as far as Catamarca Province. The Andean flicker is a bird of open country. It inhabits the

páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

, the puna, '' Polylepis'' woodland, montane scrublands, and other landscapes of mixed rock, grass, and some higher vegetation. It uses rocks, cliffs, and trees as lookout points. In elevation it ranges between but usually is above . The few reports below that elevation are thought to be non-breeding adults roaming to forage.

Behavior

Movement

The Andean flicker is mostly a year-round resident throughout its range but is believed to move from the highest elevations if forced by snow or cold.

Feeding

The Andean flicker is almost entirely terrestrial in its foraging. Single birds, pairs and gregarious groups of up to about 10 birds move across the landscape. (A group of 21 was once documented.) It typically drops from a vantage point to probe, dig, and sweep away pebbles and debris in search of prey and then returns to the elevated perch. Its diet is insects including beetles both adult and larval, and other large larvae such as those of butterflies. Other adult insects are also taken.

Breeding

The Andean flicker's breeding biology is unusual for a woodpecker. It nests colonially, with 10 or more pairs very close together. It excavates a nest cavity in an earthen bank or in soil on a rock face. Its nesting season is believed to be September to November in central Peru and January to March in some other areas. " ld and snowfall in wet season reof great influence in determining timing of nesting." Both parents provision chicks. The clutch size, incubation period, time to fledging, and other details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The Andean flicker has a large vocal repertiore. Its most common calls are "a loud, piercing ''kweeir''...and a loud ''tew-tew-tew''". Males display with a "''kwa-kwa-kwa, wee-a, wee-a'' or ''kway-áp'' call". They also make "single or grouped ''peek'' or ''kek''" calls that are thought to be for contact or alarm, and "a clear descending trill, ''brrrridip''" that is thought to be for long-distance commumication.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

follows HBW taxonomy and so has assessed the "northern" and "southern" Andean flickers separately. Both are considered to be of Least Concern. Both have large ranges and unknown population sizes that are believed to be stable. No immediate threats to either have been identified. The species is considered uncommon to locally fairly common, except uncommon and local in Ecuador where it was first documented in the 1990s. It occurs in several national parks and sanctuaries.

References

External links

Andean Flicker photo gallery
VIREO
Photo-High ResArticle
borderland-tours

– Description and photos