Kingdom Animalia Order Piciformes Genus Celeus Higher classification Celeus | Phylum Chordata Family Picidae Scientific name Celeus elegans Rank Species | |
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Similar Celeus, Woodpecker, Bird, Ringed woodpecker, Cream‑colored woodpecker | ||
Chestnut woodpecker
The chestnut woodpecker (Celeus elegans) is a resident breeding bird in South America from Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas south to Ecuador, Bolivia and northern Brazil, and on Trinidad.
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The habitat of this large woodpecker is forest and other closed woodland. The nest hole is in a dead tree, with the chamber floor up to 30 cm below the entrance. Three white eggs are laid.
The chestnut woodpecker is 28 cm long and weighs 127g. It is a rich unbarred chestnut brown with a yellow rump and flanks and a yellowish crest. The wings and tail are black and the bill yellow-white. The male has a red malar stripe, but otherwise the sexes are similar.
C. e. leotaudi of Trinidad is smaller, paler, and much brighter than the mainland forms. Other subspecies have differing crest colours.
The chestnut woodpecker mainly feeds in trees and bushes on insects, including termites, and some fruit, and will come to table scraps. It is a noisy species with a harsh parrot-like squawk whEEjer. Both sexes drum.