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Melanerpes aurifrons
This medium-sized woodpecker has a black and white striped pattern above and gray below. There are red patches on the top of the head (male) and nape of neck. A gold patch is located at the base of the bill. The bill itself is black.
Open to semi-open forests and scrubland in Texas and extending down to Central America.
These woodpeckers consume not just insects but also fruit when it is available.
Spotted on Apr 25, 2013
Submitted on May 8, 2013
5 Comments
LandmarkExpert, It's an easy mistake to make. They have a very similar silhouette and have a similar appearance. But I appreciate you making the suggestion because it's sometimes good to review IDs. I once misidentified a yellow-crowned night-heron as a black-crowned night-heron and someone spotted my mistake. Those two immatures look a lot a like and I'm glad someone pointed it out.
beautiful bird, gordon. i have just removed my suggestion because after further examination, i have found that it is not a flicker as i thought.
Thanks for the comments. They are pretty birds, aren't they.
LandmarkExpert, They could be ID'd as a flickers, but this is not a flicker. A northern flicker has a spotted breast and doesn't have the gold at the base of the top bill.
Compare: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/north... and http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golde...
Beautiful bied
Amazing composition!