The Story
I photographed this Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) at Hotel Waka Rural in Honda, Tolima, Colombia. It feeds by probing, gleaning and hammering for insects, and it pecks open fruit that is too large to swallow. Both sexes dig the nest hole, usually in a large trunk, branch or cactus, and fence posts are used too. Its tail is black with white bars on the central and outer feathers. It forages at all levels of its habitat but favors the middle and lower layers. Between 1850 and 1910 Honda was the country’s main river port on the route between the Caribbean and Bogotá.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, +1 EV. IUCN lists the Red-crowned Woodpecker as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 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