25-3-2017 RANCHO NATURALISTA, COSTA RICA - BLACK CHEEKED WOODPECKER

The Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Melanerpes pucherani, is a vibrant member of the woodpecker family, Picidae, measuring 17 to 19 cm in length and weighing between 42 to 68 grams. This species exhibits sexual dimorphism in the pattern of the head. Males boast a golden yellow forehead with a red crown and nape, while females display a white to buffy white forehead, a black central crown, and a red hindcrown and nape. Both sexes share the characteristic black eye region extending down the neck, complemented by a white line behind the eye.

To identify the Black-cheeked Woodpecker, look for the distinctive black and white bars on the upper back, white lower back and uppertail coverts with a buff tinge, and black flight feathers with white tips and bars. The tail is black with white bars on the central feathers. The bird's underparts are olive-buff with a gray tinge, featuring buffish white with wavy bars and a central red belly spot. Juveniles are duller with more diffuse barring and a smaller red belly spot.

This woodpecker inhabits the interiors and edges of humid to wet evergreen forests, mature secondary forests, abandoned plantations, and clearings with scattered trees. It can also be found in gardens, even those distant from forests.

The Black-cheeked Woodpecker is native to southern Mexico, extending south on the Caribbean slope into Costa Rica, and from there on both slopes in Panama, through western Colombia and western Ecuador, slightly reaching into Peru.

As a year-round resident, the Black-cheeked Woodpecker is known for its active and agile foraging behavior, often seen probing, pecking, gleaning, and hawking from the forest's midlevel to the canopy. It typically forages alone or in pairs, occasionally joining mixed-species flocks.

The most common call of the Black-cheeked Woodpecker is a series of short rattling trills, "churrr, churrr, churrr, churrr" or "cherrr." It also produces a longer rattle, a loud "krrrr," and a higher-pitched "chirriree" or "keereereek." Both sexes drum, though infrequently.

Breeding season spans from March to July, with nests excavated in dead trunks or branches, typically 4 to 30 meters above ground. Both sexes share incubation duties for the clutch of two to four eggs, with a 14-day incubation period and fledging occurring about three weeks post-hatch.

The Black-cheeked Woodpecker forms a superspecies with the Golden-naped Woodpecker (M. chrysauchen), and while similar, can be distinguished by its unique head pattern and distribution.

The diet consists of a wide variety of arthropods, including spiders, beetles, ants, and aerial insects, as well as plant material like fruits, berries, seeds, catkins, and nectar from large flowers in trees.

The IUCN has classified the Black-cheeked Woodpecker as Least Concern, with a very large range and an estimated population of at least 50,000 mature individuals. Although the population is believed to be decreasing, no immediate threats have been identified, and the species is present in several protected areas. However, numbers do decline with extensive deforestation.

27-3-2017 RANCHO NATURALISTA, COSTA RICA - BLACK CHEEKED WOODPECKER (Melanerpes pucherani)

The black-cheeked woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani ) is a resident breeding bird from southeastern Mexico south to western Ecuador.

This woodpecker occurs in the higher levels of wet forests, semi-open woodland and old second growth. It nests in an unlined hole 6–30 m (20–98 ft) high in a dead tree. The clutch is two to four glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.

The binomial commemorates the French zoologist Jacques Pucheran.

The black-cheeked woodpecker feeds on insects, but will take substantial quantities of fruit and nectar.

This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling krrrrrl call and both sexes drum on territory.

The adult is 18.5 cm (7.3 in) long and weighs 63 g (2.2 oz). It has black upperparts with white barring on the back, white spotting on the wings and a white rump. The tail is black with some white barring, and the underparts are pale buff-olive with a red central belly. There is a black patch through the eyes and on the cheeks, a yellow forehead, and a red nape. The crown is red in the male and black in the female. Young birds are duller, have less white above and less red on the belly.

Medium-sized woodpecker of evergreen forests and their edges in tropical lowlands. Less numerous than the larger and more conspicuous Golden-fronted Woodpecker, which occurs in the same areas. Distinctive, with a large black mask, white patch behind the eyes, black upperparts with narrow white bars and a large white patch on the rump. The male has an entire red crown. In the female the front is greyish and the back is red.

The  Central American woodpecker  or  black-faced woodpecker  ( Melanerpes pucherani ) is a Neotropical bird of the genus Melanerpes whose range extends from Mexico to Peru (recently discovered in the latter country). Its scientific name is a tribute to the French zoologist Jacques Pucheran.

This species is a rather noisy bird and is often seen in large family groups. Its name  Melenerpes  means black woodpecker and is derived from the Greek roots  melas =  black  and herpes =  climber . 

The male is 17–19 cm long and weighs 42–68 g. It has a long, black bill with a paler base of the lower mandible and a slightly curved culmen. The iris of its eyes is brown, it has brown to grey orbital skin and greenish-grey legs. The male has a golden-yellow forehead, a red crown and nape, and a broad black mask that surrounds the eyes and continues down the cheeks to the back. It has black upperparts with white barring on the mantle and white spots on the wings. Its rump is white and its tail is black with the central feathers variably barred with white. It has a small white postocular spot, cheeks, chin and upper throat of the same colour. Its breast and lower throat are olive-buff with a grey tint. The rest of its underparts are barred with buff and black with the centre of the belly red. The underside of its wings is also barred with black and white and its tail is yellowish-brown. The female is slightly smaller than the male, with a buff-white to yellow forehead, black rest of the crown and red nape. Juveniles are duller and brownish with more diffuse barring above and paler and less extensive red on the belly.

24-3-2017 RANCHO NATURALISTA, COSTA RICA - BLACK CHEEKED WOODPECKER (Melanerpes pucherani)

The black-cheeked woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani ) is a resident breeding bird from southeastern Mexico south to western Ecuador.

This woodpecker occurs in the higher levels of wet forests, semi-open woodland and old second growth. It nests in an unlined hole 6–30 m (20–98 ft) high in a dead tree. The clutch is two to four glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.

The binomial commemorates the French zoologist Jacques Pucheran.

The black-cheeked woodpecker feeds on insects, but will take substantial quantities of fruit and nectar.

This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling krrrrrl call and both sexes drum on territory.

Medium-sized woodpecker of evergreen forests and their edges in tropical lowlands. Less numerous than the larger and more conspicuous Golden-fronted Woodpecker, which occurs in the same areas. Distinctive, with a large black mask, white patch behind the eyes, black upperparts with narrow white bars and a large white patch on the rump. The male has an entire red crown. In the female the front is greyish and the back is red.

The adult is 18.5 cm (7.3 in) long and weighs 63 g (2.2 oz). It has black upperparts with white barring on the back, white spotting on the wings and a white rump. The tail is black with some white barring, and the underparts are pale buff-olive with a red central belly. There is a black patch through the eyes and on the cheeks, a yellow forehead, and a red nape. The crown is red in the male and black in the female. Young birds are duller, have less white above and less red on the belly.

The Black-cheeked Woodpecker has black upperpart with white-barred mantled and spotted wings. The face and sides of the neck are also black. The throat and breast are brownish-buff with barred belly and central red area. The male has a red cap and nape. Females have only the nape red. It is the only medium size woodpecker with a dark back within its range. Resembles the Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, but their ranges do not overlap.