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. Males have a red forecrown and midcrown, which are black on females. 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.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, +1 EV. As the Amazon rainforest is cleared, this woodpecker’s habitat is being degraded, and its population is thought to be in gradual decline.
©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