Bird Guide

Beautiful Woodpecker vs Guadeloupe Woodpecker

Beautiful Woodpecker (Melanerpes pulcher)

Beautiful Woodpecker

Melanerpes pulcher

Small52 gForest

The beautiful woodpecker is about 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in) long. The sexes are alike except for their head pattern. Adult males have a whitish forehead, a scarlet crown, and a golden yellow lower nape and hindneck. Adult females have the same whitish forehead and yellow hindneck but a black forecrown and a scarlet hindcrown and nape. Both sexes have black around the eye that extends down the side of the neck. Their lores, cheeks, chin, throat, and breast are white to cream or pale yellow.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie · Public domain
Guadeloupe Woodpecker (Melanerpes herminieri)

Guadeloupe Woodpecker

Melanerpes herminieri

Medium100 gForest

The Guadeloupe woodpecker is a medium-sized, robust woodpecker species measuring 26–28 cm (10–11 in) in length, and with a mass of 86–97 g (3.0–3.4 oz) in males and 69–78 g (2.4–2.8 oz) in females. It is distinct in its appearance within its genus, and unlike other species of Melanerpes, males and females do not present a marked sexual dimorphism in their plumage; they are entirely black with gradual reflections ranging from dark red to burgundy on the ventral plumage, dark blue on the back, and metallic blue on the wing tips. Males have a wingspan of 42.5 cm (16.7 in) compared with 40. Voice: The Guadeloupe woodpecker makes eight vocalized and two unvocalized sounds: Although they are identical in form, the female's sound is higher pitched.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Yves Bas · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Beautiful Woodpecker and Guadeloupe Woodpecker.