The Story
I photographed this Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) at Hato El Diamante, near San Luis de Palenque, Casanare, Colombia, in January 2020. Males have a bright red crown, while females have a pale grayish crown and a reddish nape. It eats a lot of fruit and berries, including papayas and bananas, along with insects, spiders and nectar. Its back is barred black and white, and the center of its belly carries a reddish patch. It usually forages singly or in pairs, in the middle and lower levels of its habitat. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400. It is common in most of its range and may even benefit where thinning and clearing create more open woodland.
©2020 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