Chestnut-colored Woodpecker - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo © by Megan Perkins
La Selva, Costa Rica, July 2010

Celeus castaneus

Identification

23–25 cm (9-9¾ in)

• Rich chestnut upper and underparts
• V-shaped black marks
• Creamy-brown crested head
• Greenish-ivory bill

Male

• Broad red moustachial patch
• Red ear patch and lores

Distribution

Female
Photo © by rdavis
Bladen Nature Reserve, Belize, March 2010

Central America: found in Gulf-Caribbean slope of southern Mexico (southern Veracruz), Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and western Panama.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Tropical evergreen rainforest and edges of secondary growth rainforest.

Behaviour

Diet

Their main diet consists of ants and termites. They also eat some fruit and seeds.

Breeding

The nest hole is excavated by both adults about 4-21 m up.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2019)
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Chestnut-colored Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chestnut-colored_Woodpecker

External Links

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