Woodpeckers are a group of near-passerine birds that can be found worldwide, except
for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions.
They are chiefly known for their characteristic behaviour where they mostly forage for insect
prey on the trunks and branches of trees, and often communicate by drumming with their
beak, producing a reverberatory sound that can be
heard at some distance.
The plumage of woodpeckers varies from drab to conspicuous, and with around 200 species
of them worldwide, let's take a look at the 10 of the most beautiful woodpeckers in the
world.
Number 10.
Mainly breeds in the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Texas and as far north
as Canada, the red bellied woodpecker's common name is
somewhat misleading as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the head.
The reddish tinge on the belly that gives the bird its name is difficult to see in field
identification.
Adults are mainly light gray on the face and underparts, where they have black and white
barred patterns on their back, wings and tail.
Adult males have a red cap going from the bill to the nape, while females have a red
patch on the nape and another above the bill.
The red-bellied woodpecker uses its bill for foraging as a chisel drilling into bark or
probing cracks on trunk of trees.
In this manner, the red-bellied woodpecker is able to pull out beetles and other insects
from the tree with the help of its long tongue.
In fact, this bird is a major predator of the invasive emerald ash borer in the U.S.
Midwest, removing up to 85 percent of borer larvae in a single infested ash tree.
Number 9.
The red-headed woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker from temperate North America.
Adults are strikingly tri-colored, with a black back and tail and a red head and neck.
Their underparts are mainly white while the wings are black with white secondary remiges.
While red-bellied woodpeckers have some bright red on the backs of their necks and heads,
red-headed woodpeckers have a much deeper red that covers their entire heads and necks,
as well as a dramatically different overall plumage pattern.
These birds fly to catch insects in the air or on the ground, forage on trees or gather
and store nuts.
They are omnivorous, eating insects, seeds, fruits, berries, nuts, and occasionally small
rodents and even the eggs of other birds.
This beautiful woodpecker is currently rated as least concern on the IUCN's Red List of
Endangered species, having been downlisted from near threatened in 2018.
Number 8.
Found along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, the rufous-bellied woodpecker
has a habit of making a series of small pits on the bark of trees
leading to its being considered an Asiatic member of the sapsuckers in the past.
Ranging in length from 19 to 23 cm, the male has a red crown while the female has a black
crown, speckled with white.
Both sexes have a black mantle and back, while the wings are black barred with white.
The upper tail is black, with some white barring on the outer two pairs of feathers, while
the lower belly is black barred with white and the under-tail converts are red or pink.
The rufous-bellied woodpecker has a wide range but is generally an uncommon bird.
It has disappeared from part of its former range because of the clearing of the deciduous
forest necessary for its survival.
The population trend is thought to be downwards, but the IUCN has assessed its conservation
status as being of "least concern".
Number 7.
Being the smallest woodpecker in North America, the downy woodpecker only grows up to 18 cm
in total length.
It is mainly black on the upperparts and wings, with a white back, throat and belly and white
spotting on the wings.
They have a black tail with white outer feathers barred with black, and adult males have a
red patch on the back of the head whereas juvenile birds display a red cap.
The downy woodpecker is virtually identical in plumage pattern to the larger hairy woodpecker,
but it can be distinguished from the hairy by the presence of black spots on its white
tail feathers and the length of its bill.
Despite their close resemblance, downy and hairy woodpeckers are not very closely related,
and they are likely to be separated in different genera, where the outward similarity is a
spectacular example of convergent evolution.
Why they evolved this way cannot be explained with confidence.
Number 6.
Found across Eurasia and parts of North Africa, the great spotted woodpecker is a medium-sized
woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly.
The upperparts are glossy blue-black, with white on the sides of the face and neck, while
black lines run from the shoulder to the nape, the base of the bill and about halfway across
the breast.
The great spotted woodpecker is omnivorous.
It digs beetle larvae from trees and also takes many other invertebrates including adult
beetles, ants and spiders, along with raiding the eggs and chicks of other cavity-nesting
birds.
The total population for the great spotted woodpecker is estimated at 73.7-110.3 million
individuals, with 35% of the population in Europe.
For this reason the great spotted woodpecker is evaluated as a species of least concern
by the IUCN.
Number 5.
Found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the green-barred woodpecker inhabits
a variety of habitats from lowland forest to Andean desert scrub.
Generally, this woodpecker is yellowish-green with barred wing coverts and rump, and sports
a black forehead with a red hindcrown.
Most often found foraging in the lower and middle sections of trees, the green-barred
Woodpeckers feed almost exclusively on ants, but also consume some cactus fruits and berries.
To catch ants and termites, it produces a secretion that acts as a sticky glue, giving
the tongue the holding capacity of a rod with visgo.
In addition, the tail acts as a support for vertical substrates.
To climb a log, the woodpecker jumps up, with parallel feet, "sitting" on the tail at each
stop.
Number 4.
Found in forested areas with oaks in the coastal areas and foothills of Oregon, California,
and the southwestern United States, south through Central America to Colombia,
the acorn woodpecker is medium sized, growing up to 21 cm long.
The adult has a brownish-black head, back, wings and tail, white forehead, throat, belly
and rump.
The eyes are white, and there is a small part on the small of their backs where there are
some green feathers.
The adult male has a red cap starting at the forehead, whereas females have a black area
between the forehead and the cap.
Acorn woodpeckers, as their name implies, depend heavily on acorns for food.
Acorns are such an important resource to the California populations that acorn woodpeckers
may nest in the fall to take advantage of the fall acorn crop, which is a rare behavior
in birds.
Though, they also feed on insects, sap, and fruit.
Number 3.
Endemic to Colombia, the beautiful woodpecker is a colourful bird about 18 cm long.
Both sexes have a red mid-crown and yellow nape, and a black mask surrounding the eyes
and running to the nape.
The mantle and upper wings are mainly black, with some white barring of the flight feathers,
while the back and rump are white, sometimes blotched with black.
What separates the genders apart is the yellow fore-crown on the male, while the fore-crown
in the female is black.
Until recently, this woodpecker was united with the golden-naped woodpecker of Central
America as subspecies.
But the different appearance and geographic ranges argue in favor of recognizing the two
as distinct species.
The beautiful woodpecker is largely frugiverous, its diet including figs, bananas, fruits of
the Cecropia tree and palm nuts, as well as insects and small invertebrates.
Number 2.
Native to, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, the crimson-mantled woodpecker's
natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
It primarily stays within the elevation 1,800m-3,500m above sea level, but there have been sightings
as far down as 700m.
The sex of the species can be determined by the crown and malar, where the males carry
a dark red malar with a red crown, while the females have both a black malar and crown.
Its diet consists of arthropods such as ants, a spider, a millipede, and beetle larvae,
along with fruits.
Its foraging behavior is to search for prey along moss and lichen covered trees, leaf
stems, rotting trunks, and on the ground in small clearings.
Number 1.
Found in Brazil, Paraguay and far northeastern Argentina, the yellow-fronted woodpecker can
grow up to 18 cm long.
It is a really colorful woodpecker with both sexes are similar apart from the male having
a red crown and nape while this region in the female is bluish black.
Both have a yellow fore-crown, yellow cheeks, chin and throat, and a broad black band running
from the base of the beak, through the eye to the nape.
The species has a mixed diet consisting mainly of berries and fruits, but including seeds,
insects and their larvae.
As it is a fairly common bird with a wide range, the IUCN has classified its conservation
status as "least concern".