Woodpeckers - In Belize | Belize Budget Suites

Woodpeckers - in Belize

Golden Olive Woodpecker

Golden Olive Woodpecker - Widespread ‘green woodpecker’ of tropical and subtropical forest; the only species of overall green woodpecker in much of its range, and therefore distinctive. Prefers mid-upper levels of forest, where can be very sluggish, and is overlooked easily unless its calls are known. Both sexes have red on back of head. ‘Bronze-winged Woodpecker’ of Northeast Mexico has less red on head, and very different voice from widespread Golden-olive forms.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in pine and broadleaf forest and forest edge.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Uncommon to locally common resident on mainland nearly throughout; mot plentiful in Mtn. Pine Ridge.

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

Golden Fronted Woodpecker - Black-and-white barring on the back and a plain buffy breast and face. Note the yellow-orange nape. Adult males have red crowns. In flight, look for the white rump. Found in open woodlands and arid scrub and brushlands from Texas to Nicaragua. Visits feeders, especially for oranges and jelly. Nests in cavities.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy at forest edge and most open areas with trees; frequents mango trees and coconut palms, among others. The common woodpecker around towns.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Common to very common resident away from extensive forest, including Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Turneffe Islands and Moho Caye off Placencia.
INTERESTING FACTS

The Golden-fronted Woodpecker is composed of four subspecies that differ in size, amount of barring on the tail, and the color of the nape, nasal tufts, and belly. Whereas the nape of the form found in Texas and most of Mexico is yellow to orange, it is red on the Yucatan Peninsula and orange farther south. The four forms were formerly considered different species.
The Golden-fronted Woodpecker consumes about as much fruit and nuts as it does insects. In summer in Texas, the faces of some woodpeckers become stained purple from eating fruit of the prickly pear cactus.
The oldest recorded Golden-fronted Woodpecker was a male, and at least 5 years, 11 months old when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Texas.

The Golden-fronted Woodpecker is composed of four subspecies that differ in size, amount of barring on the tail, and the color of the nape, nasal tufts, and belly. Whereas the nape of the form found in Texas and most of Mexico is yellow to orange, it is red on the Yucatan Peninsula and orange farther south. The four forms were formerly considered different species.
The Golden-fronted Woodpecker consumes about as much fruit and nuts as it does insects. In summer in Texas, the faces of some woodpeckers become stained purple from eating fruit of the prickly pear cactus.
The oldest recorded Golden-fronted Woodpecker was a male, and at least 5 years, 11 months old when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Texas.

Red-Vented Woodpecker

Rent Vented Woodpecker - Like a small version of Golden-fronted Woodpecker. Found in woodland, beach scrub, semi-open wooded habitats; usually less numerous than Golden-fronted. Yucatan populations of Golden-fronted Woodpecker very similar in plumage, but Yucatan Woodpecker has a much shorter bill, ‘egg-yolk’ yellow feathering around the bill base (vs. reddish on local Golden-fronteds), and relatively wider white barring on back (looks silvery at a distance, vs. blackish overall on Golden-fronted). Voice is quite different from Golden-fronted.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in most open forest types, including broadleaf and pine. Often found with Golden-fronted.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Uncommon to fairly common resident in Corozal, east and central Orange Walk, extreme northeast Cayo, and all but southwest Belize; also on Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker.

Ladder-Backed Woodpecker

Ladder Backed Woodpecker - Very small woodpecker of arid habitats, including mesquite scrub and dry woodlands. Black-and-white barring on the back, patterned flanks, and buffy wash below. Males have a red cap. Sometimes visits feeders. Most similar to Nuttall's Woodpecker, but range barely overlaps. Slightly larger than Downy Woodpecker. Nests in cavities.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in open pine woodlands.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Uncommon to locally fairly common resident in coastal plain from central Orange Walk and north Belize south, to northeast Toledo, including extreme northeast Cayo, absent from cayes.

Smoky Brown Woodpecker

Smoky-Brown Woodpecker

Smoky Brown Woodpecker - Very small, rather plain woodpecker of tropical lowlands and foothills. Found in forests, woodlands, and plantations. Forages at all levels, mainly on smaller branches and in vine tangles, not so often in open situations. Appearance distinctive: smoky brown overall with a pale grayish face. Male has red crown.
BELIZE HABITAT - Lower levels to sub-canopy in broadleaf forest interior and edge, scrub.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Fairly common resident on mainland.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Woodpecker

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker - This woodpecker specializes in drilling rows of sap wells into tree bark. Eats insects attracted to the sap. Larger than Downy Woodpecker and smaller than Hairy; often looks disheveled compared to these species. Look for the vertical white stripe on the shoulder. Adult males show red cap and throat; females have red cap and white throat; and juveniles are messy brownish-gray overall. Nests in cavities.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in broadleaf and pine forest, forest edge. Sapsuckers drill small holes in parallel rows around tree trunks to extract sap. These characteristic drillings, which persist as long as the tree stands, are a near permanent sign of the historical occurrence of sapsuckers in an area.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Uncommon winter visitor, mid-October to late April; at times fairly common on cayes in migration.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker - Medium-sized woodpecker. Unique face pattern with a red crown, yellowish forehead and throat, and pale eye. Glossy black overall with a clean white rump and streaked chest. Lives in mixed oak-conifer forests, where they are found in large groups, hoarding acorns in tree trunks and telephone poles, and breeding cooperatively. Listen for their raucous, scratchy "waka-waka" calls. Nests in cavities.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in pine and pine-oak forest. Dependent on oaks, which have a distribution similar to that of Caribbean pine; thus its close ties to Mtn. Pine Ridge and lowland pinelands. Stores acorns in small holes it drills in tree trunks, later feeding on larval insects that infest the rotting acorn.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Fairly common to common resident in Mt. Pine Ridge & coastal plain from north Orange Walk, south to northeast Toledo.
INTERESTING FACTS

In 1923, American ornithologist William Leon Dawson called the dapper Acorn Woodpecker “our native aristocrat.” Dawson wrote: “He is unruffled by the operations of the human plebs in whatever disguise…Wigwams, haciendas, or university halls, what matter such frivolities, if only one may go calmly on with the main business of life, which is indubitably the hoarding of acorns.”
The Acorn Woodpecker has a very complicated social system. Family groups hold territories, and young woodpeckers stay with their parents for several years and help the parents raise more young. Several different individuals of each sex may breed within one family, with up to seven breeding males and three breeding females in one group.

Black-Cheeked Woodpecker

Black Cheeked Woodpecker - Medium-sized woodpecker of humid evergreen forest and edge in tropical lowlands. Less numerous than larger and more conspicuous Golden-fronted Woodpecker, which often occurs in the same areas. Distinctive, with big black mask, white patch behind eye, black upperparts with narrow white bars, and big white rump patch. Male has full red crown. Female has grayish forecrown and red hindcrown.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in broadleaf forest edge and clearings within forest.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Fairly common resident north to north-central Cayo and central Belize, perhaps discontinuously in west and central Orange Walk.

Pale-Billed Woodpecker

Pale Billed Woodpecker - The pale-billed woodpecker is 15 inches long and weighs 9 ounces. It resembles the lineated woodpecker, but is larger and more robust. The adult is mainly black above with a pale bill, bushy crest, and white lines down the shoulders which almost meet in a V on its back. The throat is black and the rest of the underparts are white, heavily barred with black. The male has a red head and crest; the female is similar, but the crest and throat are black. The female can be distinguished from the lineated woodpecker by the absence of a white facial stripe.
BELIZE HABITAT - Found in much the same area as Lineated, but less frequent in pines, in towns and villages.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Fairly common resident on the mainland.

Lineated Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker - Large ‘woody woodpecker’ of tropical forest in lowlands and foothills. Also ranges into semi-open areas with tall trees, mangroves, and other lightly wooded habitats. The tufted red crest and black face distinguish it from adult Pale-billed Woodpecker, which often occurs in the same areas. Also note that the white ‘braces’ on the back of Lineated are widely spaced, unlike Pale-billed. Laughing call suggests a flicker, and very unlike calls of Pale-billed.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in most areas with large trees, including primary and secondary broadleaf forest, open areas with scattered large trees, pines, towns and villages.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Fairly common to common resident on mainland and north Ambergris Caye.

Chestnut-Colored Woodpecker

Chestnut Colored Woodpecker - Attractive, medium-sized crested woodpecker of humid tropical lowlands. Uncommon in evergreen forest and edge ranging into adjacent clearings with taller trees. Forages mainly at middle to upper levels, where often quite inconspicuous. Both sexes bright chestnut-brown overall with blond, shaggy, slightly wobbly crest. Male has big red mustache.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy within broadleaf forest interior.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Resident on Gulf-Caribbean slope from central Veracruz to west Pan.