Jamaican woodpecker facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jamaican woodpecker
male, Strawberry Hill, Jamaica
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Picidae
Genus:	Melanerpes
Species:	M. radiolatus
Binomial name
Melanerpes radiolatus (Wagler, 1827)
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The Jamaican woodpecker (scientific name: Melanerpes radiolatus) is a special type of bird. It belongs to the woodpecker family. This bird lives only in Jamaica, which means it is endemic there.

About Its Family

The Jamaican woodpecker is part of a group of birds called Melanerpes. It is the only species of its kind found in Jamaica.

What It Looks Like

The Jamaican woodpecker is about 24 to 26 cm (9.4 to 10 in) long. It weighs between 92 to 131 g (3.2 to 4.6 oz).

Male vs. Female

Both male and female woodpeckers look similar. The main difference is on their heads.

• Males have a white or light brown forehead. Their head is red from the front to the back of their neck.
• Females also have a white forehead. But their crown (top of the head) is gray. They only have red on the back of their head and neck.

Body Colors

Their upper body is black with thin white stripes. These stripes can sometimes look a bit green. The stripes are widest on their lower back. Their wing feathers are black with narrow white stripes. Their tail is black with some white stripes or spots.

Their face, chin, and throat are white. The skin around their eyes is gray or brown. Their eyes are red. Their long beak is black, and their legs are dark gray.

Young Woodpeckers

Young Jamaican woodpeckers are not as bright as adults. Their belly is more yellow, and their underparts are grayer. Their eyes are brown. Both young males and females have some red on their heads, but young males have more.

Where It Lives

The Jamaican woodpecker lives all over the island of Jamaica. You can find it in many different wooded areas.

Its Home

It lives in places like:

• Rainforests on lower mountains
• Wet and misty forests
• Mangrove swamps
• Wooded pastures
• Farms with citrus or coconut trees
• Gardens

It is most common in forests that are growing back after being cut down. You can find these birds from the sea level all the way up to the highest mountains in Jamaica.

How It Behaves

Staying in One Place

The Jamaican woodpecker stays in Jamaica all year round. It does not migrate to other places.

What It Eats

The Jamaican woodpecker's diet is about half animals and half plants.

• Animal food: Mostly insects, like beetles and ants. They also eat snails and sometimes small lizards.
• Plant food: Mostly fruits, especially from Cecropia and Ficus trees.

They usually look for food near the tops of trees. They also hunt lower down and inside the tree canopy. They find food on trees, especially in plants like bromeliads. They rarely look for food on large tree trunks. They get food by grabbing fruit, poking into bark, pecking, picking things off surfaces, and catching insects in the air.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

The Jamaican woodpecker's breeding season usually runs from December to August. However, they can build nests and lay eggs in any month. Pairs often have two, and sometimes even three, groups of young birds each year.

Nesting

The male woodpecker does most of the work to dig the nest hole. They make their nests in dead branches, dead tree trunks, or even utility poles. The nest is usually between 5 and 15 m (15 and 50 ft) above the ground.

Eggs and Young

A female woodpecker lays three to five eggs. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. This is called incubation. The eggs hatch after 13 days. The young birds are ready to leave the nest about a month after they hatch. Both parents feed the young birds while they are in the nest. They continue to feed them for up to a month after they leave the nest.

Sounds It Makes

The Jamaican woodpecker makes several different sounds.

• Its most common call is a loud "kaaa," which it sometimes repeats two or three times.
• When it's a little worried, it makes single "kao" calls.
• When it meets other woodpeckers, it might say "wee-cha weecha."
• During the breeding season, it makes "krirr, krirr" sounds and softer "whirr-whirr" sounds.

Both male and female woodpeckers also drum loudly on trees. They also tap more softly near their nest hole.

Its Conservation Status

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has looked at the Jamaican woodpecker. They have assessed it as being of "Least Concern." This means it is not currently in danger of disappearing.

It lives in a very large area. However, its total population size is not known. Experts believe the number of these birds might be slowly decreasing. No immediate big threats have been found. It is considered very common across the island of Jamaica. Even though many forest areas are protected by law, these laws are not always enforced.