Lita woodpecker facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lita woodpecker
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Picidae
Genus:	Piculus
Species:	P. litae
Binomial name
Piculus litae (Rothschild, 1901)
Script error: The function "autoWithCaption" does not exist.

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

The Lita woodpecker (Piculus litae) is a type of bird from the woodpecker family. You can find this bird in the countries of Colombia and Ecuador. Woodpeckers are famous for using their strong beaks to tap and drill into trees.

About the Lita Woodpecker

Scientists group animals to understand them better. The Lita woodpecker was first described in 1901. It was given the name Chloronerpes litae back then. Later, it was placed into the Piculus group of woodpeckers. This bird is considered a unique species, meaning it doesn't have different types or subspecies.

What Does It Look Like?

The Lita woodpecker is about 17 to 18 centimeters (about 7 inches) long. Both male and female Lita woodpeckers look very similar, except for the colors on their heads.

• Males have bright red feathers on their forehead, the back of their neck, and a wide red stripe on their cheeks. The rest of their face is a golden-yellow color.
• Females only have red on the back of their neck and on their cheeks. Their forehead is golden-yellow, just like the male's face.

Both male and female adults have a dark, dusky olive chin and throat. This can look almost black from a distance. Their upper bodies are olive-yellow to bronze-green. Their flight feathers are mostly dark brown with some olive green and cinnamon-red colors. Their tail is dark, with greenish edges.

Their undersides are whitish with black, wedge-shaped stripes. The Lita woodpecker has a light bluish beak with a black tip. Its eyes are dark brown, and its legs are a dark slate blue color. Young Lita woodpeckers are not as bright as adults. They are greener and only have red on the back of their neck. Their throat also has streaks.

Where It Lives

The Lita woodpecker lives in parts of Colombia and Ecuador. In Colombia, it can be found in the middle Magdalena River Valley and on the Pacific side of the western Andes mountains. It also lives south into northwestern Ecuador, reaching Pichincha Province.

These woodpeckers prefer to live inside and at the edges of humid and wet primary forests. They can also be found in secondary forests, which are forests that have grown back after being cut down. They live at different heights, from near sea level up to about 800 meters (about 2,600 feet) high.

How It Behaves

Movement

The Lita woodpecker is a resident bird. This means it stays in the same area all year long and does not migrate to other places.

Feeding Habits

The Lita woodpecker looks for food in the middle and upper parts of the forest trees. It usually forages by itself. Sometimes, you might see a pair of them looking for food together. Scientists believe they eat adult insects and their larvae (young insects), but their diet hasn't been studied in detail.

Reproduction

Not much is known about how the Lita woodpecker breeds. People have seen them digging and visiting what looked like nest holes in July and August.

Vocalizations

The Lita woodpecker makes calls that sound like a "shreeyr" or "peessh." These sounds are similar to the calls made by other woodpeckers in the Piculus group.

Conservation Status

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the Lita woodpecker as a species of Least Concern. This means it is not currently considered to be in danger of disappearing.

Even though it has a fairly large area where it lives, the exact number of Lita woodpeckers is not known. However, scientists believe its population might be getting smaller. There are no immediate threats that have been clearly identified. But, a lot of forests where these birds live have been cut down, and this continues to happen. Because of this, and because the bird's range is not huge, some people think it should perhaps be considered "Near-threatened."