Return of Bird of the Week: Crimson-mantled Woodpecker
This will be the last Return of Bird of the Week here at the Mudflats. Differences in some of the underlying parts of WordPress have made cross-posting difficult. The Satuday series will continue over at Wickersham’s Conscience if you haven’t had enough birds yet. Thanks for reading the 350 +/- posts. Get out and enjoy the birds.
Another very handsome, very colorful woodpecker, the Crimson-mantled is found along the eastern and westerly slopes of the Andes from Columbia to central Bolivia. It’s a medium-sized woodpecker, about the size of the Hairy Woodpecker, and fairly common across its range.
There are believed to be five subspecies, and these these photos are probably of two of those subspecies, but WC is unable to tell which.
As colorful and flashy as this species is, it’s relatively inconspcuous and quiet in the field. It’s also very poorly studied; the Birds of the World note on this species says that “most aspects of its natural history are very poorly known.” It’s not even clear whether the “species” may in fact be two.
Based on the extensive range and limited knowledge of populations, the IUCN classifies this as a species of Least Concern although, really, that’s mostly a guess.
It’s certainly a colorful treat to find in the field.
For more bird photographs, please visit Frozen Feather Images.