The Red-necked Woodpecker is distributed in the Amazonian Basin generally below 600m but higher in southern Venezuela and central Bolivia.
It is found in rain forest, cloud forest and semi-open woodland where it feeds on beetle and moth larvae mainly in the middle and upper levels of trunks and limbs of trees.
It has a crimson neck and head with a pointed crest and its underparts are rufous chestnut. The bill is ivory and the eye is yellow. The male has a small black and white spot on the lower ear coverts. These are missing in the female which has a broad wedge from the bill to below the eyes white bordered with a thin black line. The first photo shows two males together. The 3rd photo shows a female.
The subspecies shown in the first photo taken at Guajará-Mirim, Rondônia is C. r. trachelopyrus while photos 2 and 3 are of the sub-species C. r. olallae taken near Borba. These subspecies have rufous chestnut on the upper wings. The 4th photo, taken at São Gabriel da Cachoeira, is of the nominate sub-species and does not show this feature.
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