Hoffmann's Woodpecker
5374874
205593397
2008-04-14T17:38:17Z
Ltshears
1251133
replaced image with clearer image
{{Taxobox
| name = Hoffmann's Woodpecker
| image = Hoffman's Woodpecker.jpg
| image_width = 200px
| status = LC
| status_system = iucn3.1
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Aves]]
| ordo = [[Piciformes]]
| familia = [[Picidae]]
| genus = ''[[Melanerpes]]''
| species = '''''M. hoffmannii'''''
| binomial = ''Melanerpes hoffmannii''
| binomial_authority = ([[Jean Cabanis|Cabanis]], [[1862]])
}}
'''Hoffmann's Woodpecker''', '''''Melanerpes hoffmannii''''', is a resident breeding [[bird]] from southern [[Honduras]] south to [[Costa Rica]]. It is a common species on the [[Pacific]] slopes, locally as high as 2150 m. It is expanding on the [[Caribbean]] slope, aided by deforestation. This is further facilitated by its tendency to wander about outside the breeding season.<ref name=herreraetal2006>Herrera ''et al.'' (2006)</ref>
The adult Hoffmann's Woodpecker is 18 cm long and weighs 68g. Its upperparts and wings are neatly barred with black and white, and it has a white rump. The underparts are pale buff-grey with a yellow central belly patch. The male has a white forehead, red crown, and yellow nape. The female has a white crown and forehead and reduced yellow nape. Young birds are duller, have less white above and less yellow on the belly.
This common and conspicuous species gives a rattling ''wicka-wicka-wicka'' call and both sexes drum on territory.
The [[Golden-fronted Woodpecker]] replaces it to the north. It is very similar, but has a yellow forehead; also, the calls are very different. The two [[species]] [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridize]] at the [[Rio Pespire]] in Honduras.<ref name=herreraetal2006 />
This [[woodpecker]] occurs in deciduous open woodland, second growth, shade trees and hedges, but avoids dense forest. It feeds on [[insect]]s, often extracted from decaying wood, but will take substantial quantities of fruit and nectar and will mob the [[Ferruginous Pygmy Owl]].
It nests in an unlined hole up to 9 m high in a dead tree. The clutch is two or three glossy white eggs, incubated by both sexes.
This woodpecker is named for the German naturalist [[Karl Hoffmann (naturalist)|Karl Hoffmann]].
==Footnotes==
<references/>
== References ==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors={{aut|BirdLife International}}|year=2004|id=47305|title=Melanerpes hoffmannii|downloaded=11 May 2006}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* {{aut|Herrera, Néstor; Rivera, Roberto; Ibarra Portillo, Ricardo & Rodríguez, Wilfredo}} (2006): Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El Salvador. ["New records for the avifauna of El Salvador"]. ''Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología'' '''16'''(2): 1-19. [Spanish with English abstract] [http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/01-Herrera.etal.RecordsSalvador.pdf PDF fulltext]
* {{aut|Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank}} (1989): ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''. Comistock, Ithaca. <small>ISBN 0-8014-9600-4</small>
[[Category:woodpeckers]]
[[Category:Melanerpes]]
[[fr:Melanerpes hoffmannii]]