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Project Noah Nature School
Melanerpes formicivorus
These woodpeckers are large (21 cm) and males have a red cap in the head while part of the face is white with black around the beak and chin.The rest of the head, back, wings and tail are black, the belly and rump spotted with black. The eyes are white. There is a small part on their backs were there are some green feathers. The females have a black area between the forehead and the cap. The white neck, throat, and forehead patches are distinctive identifiers. These woodpeckers were approaching a bird feeder where they were picking up pieces of bread, beans and rice to feed chicks in a nest nearby (while some may think it is unortodox to provide food for wild birds, as you will see on a later spotting, it is best to help these chicks grow really fast..).
San Gerardo de Dota.
Spotted on Apr 21, 2014
Submitted on Jul 25, 2014
7 Comments
Many thanks for liking it, sunnyjosef! :-)
Lovely spotting Marta.. On the first photo, the lichen covered tree branch looks like a garland on this cutey!!
Thanks, staccyh! :-)
Wow, fantastic photos Marta :)
Gracias Luis.
Christy: yes, there were many of these in different parts I visited :-)
Even in Costa Rica? wow!
Hermosa ave y serie Marta!