The Story
I photographed this Yellow-tufted Woodpecker (Melanerpes cruentatus) at the Hotel Campestre Resguardos de Paz, near El Paujil, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. It lives in open humid forest, secondary forest and burned clearings with isolated standing trees, from sea level to about 1,200 meters. It is social and often forages in groups. Its iris and the ring around its eye are yellow, and in northern and western birds the hind crown carries yellow tufts. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, +1 EV. Most of El Paujil’s people are settlers, or the children of settlers, who came mainly from Huila and Tolima.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Yellow-tufted Woodpecker (Melanerpes cruentatus) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List