Male, Subspecies hilaris
Photo by Stanley Jones
Aconabikh Centre, Tarapoto, San Martín, Peru, December 2016
Photo by Stanley Jones
Aconabikh Centre, Tarapoto, San Martín, Peru, December 2016
- Veniliornis affinis
Identification
15-18 cm (6-7 in).
Male
- Cinnamon-buff lower forehead and lores
- Black upper forehead and crown, crown feathers tipped red (becoming golden-yellow on nape and hindneck)
- Olive streaked dark buffish ear-coverts
- Buffish chin and malar region
- Yellowish-green upperparts with some red suffusion
- Pale yellow shaft streaks
- Variably barred rump and uppertail-coverts
- Yellowish subterminal spots and reddish tips on wing-coverts
- Dark brown flight-feathers edged green
- Dark brown uppertail yellowish barred
- Light cinnamon-buff underparts, whiter on lower underparts, dark olive-brown barred
- Straight blackish, longish bill, paler on lower mandible
Female
- Dark olive-brown crown
- Golden-yellow streaks on hindcrown merging with golden nape
Juveniles similar to adults but with a darker face and more streaked.
Distribution
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
A poorly known species, uncommon (or overlooked) in most of its range.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Four subspecies recognized[1]:
- V. a. orenocensis from southeast Colombia to south Venezuela and north Brazil
- V. a. hilaris from east Ecuador through east Peru to north Bolivia and west Mato Grosso
- V. a. ruficeps in central and northeast Brazil (south to Mato Grosso)
- V. a. affinis in eastern Brazil (Alagoas and east Bahia)
Formerly treated conspecific with Choco Woodpecker, sometimes with Golden-collared Woodpecker.
Habitat
Found in tall lowland rainforest, mostly in terra firme forest, also in várzea forest.
Occurs up to 1300 m in Peru, from 100 to 500 m in Venezuela.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on arthropods and fruit.
Forages singly or in pairs, often in mixed-species flocks. Attends army-ant swarms to catch flushed insects.
Breeding
Breeding season presumably January to September. No other information.
Movements
This is a resident species.
Reference
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Winkler, H. and D. A. Christie (2020). Red-stained Woodpecker (Dryobates affinis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.reswoo1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-stained Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-stained_Woodpecker
