The Story
This Crimson-mantled Woodpecker (Colaptes rivolii) clung to a lichen-covered trunk at the Mirador de Las Palmas lookout in Roncesvalles, Tolima, Colombia. Its main food is small arthropods, especially ants, along with fruit. It nests in tree cavities, but little else is known about its breeding. Both sexes have the crimson nape and mantle that give it its name, and it lives in humid montane forest up to the lower edge of the páramo.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/45 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. IUCN lists the Crimson-mantled Woodpecker as Least Concern, and ProAves has worked in Roncesvalles since 1998 to protect its Andean forests and wax palms.
©2025 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Crimson-mantled Woodpecker (Colaptes rivolii) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
