Striped woodpecker, female

Description:

This little woodpecker, is possible to found in southwestern South America. The male is similar to the female, but has on his head a red spot.

Habitat:

Living in areas of scrub and forest edges

Notes:

This species was long placed in the genus Picoides where it was, together with its sister species, considered something of an oddball. In 2006, Moore et al. published research on mtDNA COI and Cyt b sequences which suggests that the Striped and Checkered Woodpeckers are actually most closely related to the White-spotted Woodpecker, Veniliornis spilogaster, a peculiar Picoides-like species which also was hitherto unique in its genus. Pd: the yellow color is due to the small "mushrooms" on the bark of trees