The Story
I photographed this Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) at the Hacienda El Triunfo Private Nature Reserve, near Honda, Tolima, Colombia, in October 2019. It is a very large woodpecker that lives from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and Trinidad. It is closely related to the Pileated Woodpecker of the United States and Canada. It lives along forest borders and in other open woodland. It chips out large holes while searching for insects, especially ants, beetle larvae and termites. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, and its population appears to be growing.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, +0.7 EV. Hacienda El Triunfo was declared a private nature reserve in 2014, protecting tropical dry forest, one of the most threatened ecosystems in Colombia.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) 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 2025), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List