Bird Guide

Ochre-backed Woodpecker vs Ringed Woodpecker

Ochre-backed Woodpecker (Celeus ochraceus)

Ochre-backed Woodpecker

Celeus ochraceus

Medium139 gForest

The ochre-backed woodpecker is about 25 to 27 cm (9.8 to 11 in) long. Males have a wide dull red malar area and cheek; females have a streaky black malar instead of red. Adults of both sexes have a buffy or cinnamon-tinged ochre head including the long pointed crest, chin, throat, and neck. Their upperparts are cinnamon-buff to orange-ochre with black markings that vary in shape from round to heart-like. Their flight feathers are mostly black; the secondaries have wide cinnamon-buff bars and the tertials are cinnamon-buff with black bars and tips.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Descourtilz, J. T. · Public domain
Ringed Woodpecker (Celeus torquatus)

Ringed Woodpecker

Celeus torquatus

Medium134 gForest

The ringed woodpecker is 26 to 29 cm (10 to 11 in) long. The nominate subspecies C. t. torquatus weighs 107 to 124 g (3.8 to 4.4 oz) and C. t. occidentalis weighs 122 to 135 g (4.3 to 4.8 oz); weight data are lacking for C. t. tinnunculus. Both sexes of all subspecies have a pale cinnamon head with a rufous tinge and a moderately bushy crest. The sexes differ only on their faces: Adult males of all subspecies have a red patch from the malar area to under the ear coverts, and sometimes have some red elsewhere on the head; females have no red on the head.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Ochre-backed Woodpecker and Ringed Woodpecker.