Bird Guide

Chestnut-colored Woodpecker vs Cream-colored Woodpecker

Chestnut-colored Woodpecker (Celeus castaneus)

Chestnut-colored Woodpecker

Celeus castaneus

Medium86 gForest

The chestnut-colored woodpecker is 21.5 to 25 cm (8.5 to 9.8 in) long and weighs 80 to 105 g (2.8 to 3.7 oz). Both sexes' heads are dull ochraceous or tawny with a pointed crest. Males are bright red from the lores to behind the eye and down to the throat; the chin and upper throat sometimes also have some red. Females have no red. Both sexes of adults have rufous-chestnut upperparts with a cinnamon-buff rump and black bars on the back and uppertail coverts. Their flight feathers are rufous-chestnut with some dusky brown tips. Their tail feathers are dull black with chestnut bases.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rob Foster · CC BY 4.0
Cream-colored Woodpecker (Celeus flavus)

Cream-colored Woodpecker

Celeus flavus

Medium147 gForest

The cream-colored woodpecker is about 24 to 27 cm (9.4 to 11 in) long. The nominate subspecies weighs 95 to 131 g (3.4 to 4.6 oz) and C.f. subflavus about 200 g (7.1 oz). All of the subspecies are mostly yellowish with a long crest and a black tail. The "yellowish" varies among individuals from pale creamy yellow to sulfur-yellow and occasionally is cinnamon-white. Adult males have a bright red malar stripe; females have no red. The adult's bill is yellowish, their iris red or red-brown, and their legs dark gray to green-gray. Voice: The cream-colored woodpecker makes "a high-pitched laugh, 'wutchuk kee-hoo-hoo-hoo'", also described as "pueer, pueer, purr, paw". Other calls include "kiu-kiu-kiu-kiu" and "whéejah"; the latter is used in encounters with others of its species and may be repeated.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rajan Rao · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Chestnut-colored Woodpecker and Cream-colored Woodpecker.