Grey-crowned woodpecker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Colaptes
Species:
C. auricularis
Binomial name
Colaptes auricularis
(Salvin & Godman, 1889)
Synonyms

Piculus auricularis (Salvin & Godman, 1889)

The grey-crowned woodpecker (Colaptes auricularis) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is endemic to western Mexico.[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

The grey-crowned woodpecker was originally described as Chloronerpes auricularis.[3] It was later placed in genus Piculus but since about 2007 has been moved into Colaptes by taxonomic systems.[4][5][2][6][7][8]

The grey-crowned woodpecker is similar to the wide-ranging golden-olive woodpecker (C. rubiginosus) and has been treated as a subspecies of it. Some authors have treated the two as a superspecies. In addition, research since 2010 has found that the golden-olive woodpecker is not monophyletic, with some subspecies being more closely related to the grey-crowned woodpecker than they are to other golden-olive subspecies.[9][10][11][12]

The specific epithet auricularis means "eared", an appearance created by the confluent, fine patterning of the species' head.

The grey-crowned woodpecker is monotypic.[2]

Description

The grey-crowned woodpecker is 19.5 to 21 cm (7.7 to 8.3 in) long and weighs about 65 g (2.3 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Adult males have a light gray crown and nape. They are pale brownish buff on their lores and sides of the head, sometimes with indistinct grayish bars. They have a wide red stripe below the brownish buff and a dull white chin and upper throat; the last has dull grayish bars. Adult females have no red on their head. Both sexes have mostly pale olive to olive green upperparts; their rump and uppertail coverts are barred with pale yellow or yellowish white. Their wings are a brighter olive green than the back. Their tail is pale yellowish olive green with dusky tips on the central feathers and sometimes darker bars or spots on the outer ones. Their underparts are yellowish white or pale yellowish with irregular olive bars. Their bill is dark gray, their iris brown, and the legs gray. Juveniles resemble adult females with less distinct barring on the underparts; the male's red facial stripe is mixed with gray.[12]

Distribution and habitat

The grey-crowned woodpecker is found in western Mexico from southern Sonora and Chihuahua to southern Oaxaca. It inhabits the interior and edges of semi-humid and humid forest, and is also found locally in pine-oak forest. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 2,400 m (7,900 ft).[12]

Behavior

Movement

The grey-crowned woodpecker is a year-round resident throughout its range.[1]

Feeding

The grey-crowned woodpecker forages at all levels from the ground to the forest canopy. Its diet is not known in detail but does include termites, other invertebrates, and berries.[12]

Breeding

The grey-crowned woodpecker's breeding season has not been fully determined but includes at least March and April. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.[12]

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

What is thought to be the grey-crowned woodpecker's song is "a rapid, shrill, churring rattle". It also makes "a sharp, slightly explosive kea'ah [and] a gruff mewing growh".[13] Its drum is "short and rapid".[12]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the grey-crowned woodpecker as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an estimated population of at least 20,000 mature individuals; however, the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] "Gray-crowned Woodpecker faces heightened risk because of its specialization on threatened tropical highland forest habitats. The primary threat to this species is loss of this habitat type due to conversion to agriculture, wood harvesting, and livestock grazing."[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2020). "Grey-crowned Woodpecker Colaptes auricularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22681250A141037692. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22681250A141037692.en. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022). "Woodpeckers". IOC World Bird List. v 12.2. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  3. ↑ Salvin, Osbert; Godman, F. DuCane (1889). "Chloronerpes auricularis sp. n." The Ibis (in Latin and English). I (III): 381. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ Benz, Brett W.; Robbins, Mark B.; Peterson, A. Townsend (2006). "Evolutionary history of woodpeckers and allies (Aves: Picidae): Placing key taxa on the phylogenetic tree". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40 (2): 389–399. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.02.021. PMID 16635580.
  5. ↑ Richard C. Banks, R. Terry Chesser, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Forty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk 2008, vol. 125:758-768 retrieved January 27, 2023
  6. ↑ HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022
  7. ↑ Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxa
  8. ↑ Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022
  9. ↑ Moore, W.S.; Overton, L.C.; Miglia, K.J. (2011). "Mitochondrial DNA based phylogeny of the woodpecker genera Colaptes and Piculus, and implications for the history of woodpecker diversification in South America". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 58: 76–84.
  10. ↑ Dufort, M.J. (2015). "An augmented supermatrix phylogeny of the avian family Picidae reveals uncertainty deep in the family tree". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94: 313–326.
  11. ↑ del Hoyo, J., H. Winkler, D. A. Christie, and N. Collar (2022). Golden-olive Woodpecker (Colaptes rubiginosus), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.goowoo1.01.1 retrieved January 27, 2023
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Thompson, C. and C. J. Beardmore (2020). Gray-crowned Woodpecker (Colaptes auricularis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grcwoo1.01 retrieved January 28, 2023
  13. ↑ Howell, S.N.G.; Webb, S. (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York: Oxford University Press.
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