Blond-crested Woodpecker
(Celeus flavescens)
Female Blond-crested Woodpecker, Linhares, Espírito Santo, Brazil, March 2004 - click for larger image Linhares, Espírito Santo, Brazil
March 2004

The Blond-crested Woodpecker is distributed throughout eastern Brazil from the south bank of the Amazon to Rio Grande do Sul and into adjacent Paraguay and Argentina. It is found in a variety of habitats from humid forest to savannah and scrub.

The most striking feature is the blond crest which contrasts with the rest of the upperparts which are black with narrow white or buff stripes. The male has a red malar and cheek band while the female, seen in this photo, has black streaks in their place.

This describes the nominate sub-species found from south Bahia southwards. The most northerly race, C. f. ochraceous, has noticeably more cinnamon-buff on the upperparts while the race in west Bahia and Goiás, C. f. intercedens, is intermediate between these two.

It feeds mainly on ants and termites although fruit is also eaten regularly. It excavates its nest in ant nests up trees.
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