The chestnut-colored woodpecker (''Celeus castaneus'') 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 Picinae containing the true woodpeckers is one of four subfamilies that make up the woodpecker family Picidae. True woodpeckers are found over much of the world, but do not occur in Madagascar or Australasia. Woodpeckers gained their English nam ...

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

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The chestnut-colored woodpecker is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The chestnut-colored woodpecker is long and weighs . Both sexes' heads are dull ochraceous or tawny with a pointed crest. Males are bright red from the lores to behind the eye and down to the throat; the chin and upper throat sometimes also have some red. Females have no red. Both sexes of adults have rufous-chestnut upperparts with a cinnamon-buff rump and black bars on the back and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

. Their flight feathers are rufous-chestnut with some dusky brown tips. Their tail feathers are dull black with chestnut bases. Their underparts are chestnut heavily marked with black "V" or "U" shapes. Individuals have some variation in the intensity of the black markings, especially the bars on their upperparts. The adult's bill is ivory-yellow with a blue-green tinge at its base, their iris chestnut or garnet brown, and their legs dark olive to grayish. Juveniles are similar to adults but duller and darker overall, with dusky mottling on the malar area, and fewer and more irregular black marks on their underparts.Griswold, S. (2020). Chestnut-colored Woodpecker (''Celeus castaneus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.chcwoo1.01 retrieved February 4, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The chestnut-colored woodpecker is found on the Caribbean side of Middle America from southern

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

in Mexico south through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica to just into Panama's

Bocas del Toro Province Bocas del Toro (; meaning "Mouths of the Bull") is a Provinces of Panama, province of Panama. Its area is 4,643.9 square kilometers, comprising the mainland and nine main islands. The province consists of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Bahía Al ...

. It primarily inhabits the interior and edges of humid evergreen and

semi-deciduous Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical wood ...

forests but is also found in mangroves and coastal scrub in some areas. It favors dense foliage even at the forest edge. In elevation it ranges from sea level to in Mexico and to in Costa Rica.

Behavior

Movement

The chestnut-colored woodpecker is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The chestnut-colored woodpecker mostly feeds on ants and termites but also eats smaller amounts of other insects and fruit. It typically forages by itself though sometimes in pairs, in the canopy and subcanopy but lower at the forest edges. It seeks prey by pecking into tunnels and prying off bark.

Breeding

The chestnut-colored woodpecker's breeding season varies geographically. The available evidence points to breeding in March to June in

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

, April to July in Belize, February to August in Guatemala, May and June in Nicaragua, February to May or maybe to July in Costa Rica, and May to July in Panama. Both sexes excavate the nest cavity. Few active nests have been described in detail, but most have been in a tree. One clutch contained four eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The chesnut-colored woodpecker's common vocalization is "a falling ''skeew'' succeeded by a nasal ''keh,keh,keh''." It also makes a "sharp 2-part ''wi-kah''" and "a nasal ''peahh'' (like from a squeeze toy)". It drums a "short series of rapid hollow taps".

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 ...

has assessed the chestnut-colored woodpecker as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an estimated population of at least 50,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. "As is true of other forest species, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker is vulnerable to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

or degradation."

References

External links

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Photo-Med Res
AOCR {{Taxonbar, from=Q1010053 Celeus (bird) Birds of Central America Birds of Mexico Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds described in 1829 Taxa named by Johann Georg Wagler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot