Red-rumped woodpecker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Red-rumped woodpecker |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Veniliornis
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| Species: |
kirkii
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| Synonyms | |
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Dryobates kirkii |
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The red-rumped woodpecker (Veniliornis kirkii) is a type of bird that belongs to the woodpecker family. You can find this bird in many countries, from Costa Rica in the north, all the way south to Peru. It also lives east into Brazil, Guyana, and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
Contents
About the Red-Rumped Woodpecker
What Does the Red-Rumped Woodpecker Look Like?
The red-rumped woodpecker is a small bird, usually about 15 to 16 centimeters (6 inches) long. It weighs between 30 to 42 grams (about 1 to 1.5 ounces).
Male and female red-rumped woodpeckers look very similar, except for their heads.
- Males have a bright red top of the head and back of the neck.
- Females have a dark brown head, sometimes with a hint of green.
Both male and female adults have olive-brown faces with light streaks. Their upper bodies are mostly golden olive-brown, with some yellow and red tips on their feathers. A special feature is their bright crimson-red rump and the feathers covering their upper tail. Their flight feathers are dark brown with greenish-olive edges. Their tails are dark brown with light bars on the outer feathers.
Below, their bodies have stripes of dark brown and whitish colors. The whitish stripes are wider on their bellies. Their eyes are dark brown to red-brown. They have a blackish beak with a lighter lower part. Their legs are grayish, sometimes with a green or blue tint.
Young red-rumped woodpeckers look a lot like the adults. However, both young males and females have some red on their heads, with the young males having more red than the young females.
Different Types of Red-Rumped Woodpeckers
There are five slightly different types, or subspecies, of the red-rumped woodpecker. They have small differences in size and coloring:
- The monticola type is larger and has more blackish stripes on its belly.
- The continentalis type is smaller and has more yellow on its neck. It also has wider light stripes on its belly.
- The cecilii type is smaller than continentalis. It has less pattern on its chin and throat and more stripes on its tail.
- The neglectus type is brighter on its upper body and darker below compared to the main type.
Where Does the Red-Rumped Woodpecker Live?
The different types of red-rumped woodpeckers live in specific areas:
- V. k. neglectus lives in southern Costa Rica and western Panama, including Coiba Island.
- V. k. cecilii is found from eastern Panama south through western Colombia and western Ecuador, reaching into the very northwest of Peru.
- V. k. continentalis lives in western and northern Venezuela.
- V. k. monticola can be found in the unique "tepui" mountain areas where central and southeastern Venezuela, western Guyana, and extreme northwestern Brazil meet.
- V. k. kirkii lives in northeastern Venezuela's Paria Peninsula, as well as on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
These woodpeckers live in many different kinds of open areas. This includes wet forests, younger forests that have grown back, the edges of mangrove swamps, forests along rivers, dry scrublands, forests where trees lose their leaves, savannas with scattered trees, and even coconut farms. They can be found from lowlands up to higher elevations, reaching about 900 meters (2,950 feet) in Panama and up to 1,750 meters (5,740 feet) in the tepui region.
Red-Rumped Woodpecker Behavior
How Does the Red-Rumped Woodpecker Move?
The red-rumped woodpecker stays in the same area all year round. It does not migrate.
What Does the Red-Rumped Woodpecker Eat?
This woodpecker usually looks for food from the middle to the top parts of the forest trees. However, it will come lower down at the edges of the forest. It finds food by pecking and steadily hammering on branches and tree trunks, often in thick areas.
It usually hunts alone, in pairs, or in small groups. Sometimes, it will join other bird species that are feeding together. Its diet mainly includes adult wood-boring beetles and their larvae (young insects), along with other insects.
Red-Rumped Woodpecker Reproduction and Life Cycle
The breeding season for the red-rumped woodpecker changes depending on where they live. For example, in Panama, they might breed from December to March. In northern Venezuela, it's from February to March, and in Ecuador, it seems to be from July to September.
They dig a nest hole in a living tree or a palm tree. These nests are typically 3 to 8 meters (10 to 26 feet) above the ground. A female usually lays two or three eggs. We don't know exactly how long the eggs take to hatch or how long it takes for the young birds to leave the nest. We also don't have many details about how the parents care for their young.
What Sounds Does the Red-Rumped Woodpecker Make?
The most common sound the red-rumped woodpecker makes is a slow series of strong, nasal calls, like "kénh kenh kenh kenh." It also makes a nasal "keer" sound, and soft "wih" or "kwee" sounds that seem to come from far away. Another call is a repeated "kee-yik kee-yik." When it drums on trees, the sound is fast, loud, and often lasts a long time.
Status of the Red-Rumped Woodpecker
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the red-rumped woodpecker as a species of "Least Concern." This means it is not currently in danger of disappearing. It lives across a very large area and has an estimated population of at least half a million adult birds. However, this number is thought to be slowly going down. No immediate threats to the species have been found.
The red-rumped woodpecker lives in several national parks and protected areas. It is considered uncommon in some parts of its range and fairly common in others. It can be hard to spot because it's often hidden, but you can usually tell it's around by the sound of its frequent pecking and hammering.
Images for kids
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A red-rumped woodpecker on a tree trunk.
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Map showing where the red-rumped woodpecker lives.
