Bird Guide

Cinnamon Woodpecker vs Cream-colored Woodpecker

Cinnamon Woodpecker (Celeus loricatus)

Cinnamon Woodpecker

Celeus loricatus

Medium77 gForest

The cinnamon woodpecker is about 19 to 23 cm (7.5 to 9.1 in) long and weighs 74 to 83 g (2.6 to 2.9 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except on their faces. Both sexes' heads are rufous with a bushy crest and black streaks on the crown. Males have a red chin, throat, and malar with black streaks, and females are the same rufous there as on the rest of their head. Both sexes of adults of the nominate subspecies C. l. loricatus have dark rufous upperparts with narrow black bars. Their flight feathers are blackish with wide rufous bars.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Cinnamon Woodpecker
Recorded by radrat · Call · Corregimiento de Cristóbal (near Gamboa), Colón, Colón Province, Panama · CC0
Photo: Aitor · 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

Where you might meet both

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