Bird Guide

Chestnut Woodpecker vs Variable Woodpecker

Chestnut Woodpecker (Celeus elegans)

Chestnut Woodpecker

Celeus elegans

Medium135 gForest

The chestnut woodpecker is about 26 to 32 cm (10 to 13 in) long. Subspecies C. e. hellmayri weighs 138 to 168 g (4.9 to 5.9 oz), C. e. leotaudi weighs 93 to 139 g (3.3 to 4.9 oz), and C. e. jumanus weighs 112 to 146 g (4.0 to 5.1 oz). Males of all subspecies have a wide bright red malar area and cheek; females have no red. In the nominate subspecies C. e. elegans adults of both sexes have a buffish cream forehead, crown, and crest. The rest of their head including the chin and throat are deep chestnut brown.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ben Costamagna · CC BY 4.0
Variable Woodpecker (Celeus undatus)

Variable Woodpecker

Celeus undatus

Medium65 gForest

The waved woodpecker is about 23 to 26 cm (9.1 to 10.2 in) long and weighs 61 to 87 g (2.2 to 3.1 oz). In the nominate subspecies C. u. undatus, both sexes' heads are light chestnut-rufous with a bushy crest; the crest is sometimes paler with black bars, and the ear coverts and the sides of the neck have black streaks. Males have a wide red band from behind the bill to the ear coverts; females lack it. Both sexes of adults have a cinnamon-buff chin and throat with black spots or bars. They have rufous-chestnut upperparts with wide black bars, though the rump is usually paler and yellower.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Feroze Omardeen · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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