The Story
I photographed this Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) at Finca Ecoturística San Javier, in the vereda Chucuní near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. It lives from Costa Rica to the Guianas and Tobago, mostly below 1,700 meters. It eats insects as well as a lot of fruit, including papayas and bananas, and both sexes dig the nest hole in a large trunk, branch or cactus. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It is a year-round resident throughout its range.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/750 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Finca San Javier offers guided birding as part of its work to help conserve the tropical dry forest of the Chucuní area.
©2022 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