Spot-breasted Woodpecker

The Story

This Spot-breasted Woodpecker (Colaptes punctigula) was at Ecoparque Los Alcázares in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia when I photographed it. The Spot-breasted Woodpecker has a large vocal repertoire. It lives in rainforest, gallery forest, várzea, mangroves, llanos, palm savanna and treed plantations such as shade coffee. In Colombia its breeding season runs from October to May. Males and females look alike except on the head, where females show red only at the back of the crown. Ecoparque Los Alcázares Arenillo protects 34 hectares of high Andean humid forest on the southwest side of Manizales, at 1,900 to 2,000 meters. IUCN lists the Spot-breasted Woodpecker as Least Concern, with a stable population.

I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. The ecoparque works to protect the wildlife that moves along Manizales’ natural corridors and to help restore the city’s ecological capital.

The bird

The Spot-breasted Woodpecker (Colaptes punctigula) 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