The Story
I photographed this Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) in Taganga, near Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, at about 80 meters. Males have a bright red crown and orange-red nape, and both sexes have a black-and-white barred back. It is 16 to 18.5 centimeters long and is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Tobago. It is sometimes treated with the Yucatan Woodpecker as one species. Females have a pale gray-buff crown instead of the male’s red one. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, +0.5 EV. Taganga and Santa Marta, both founded in 1525, are two of the oldest remaining colonial settlements in Colombia.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) belongs to the family Picidae (Woodpeckers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
