Powerful Woodpecker Campephilus pollens Scientific name definitions

The Powerful Woodpecker is a resident of the Andes, from central Colombia to Peru. These beautiful woodpeckers have a black head, hindneck, mantle, scapulars, upper back and tail with a black barred cinnamon colored lower breast and a white band that descends from the lores down the neck to the sides of the breast. White is also found on the lower back, rump, and the tips of the primaries. Male Powerful Woopeckers have a bright red forehead and crest. These large woodpeckers are often found in pairs in a variety of habitat types including mature montane forest, wet forest and cloudforest. Although not globally threatened, the Powerful Woodpecker is not often seen, and requires a very large home range.

c. 32 cm. Male has bright red forehead to crest, sometimes some black and white of feather bases visible, white band from lores to lower rear edge of ear-coverts continuing down side of neck to side of upper breast; rest of head, including chin and throat, black; black hindneck, mantle, scapulars and upper back, narrow white stripes on sides of mantle (often some cinnamon markings) more or less meeting at top of lower back and often joining with neck stripes; white lower back and rump, edges with a few dark-barred cinnamon-buff feathers, black uppertail-coverts; upper­wing black, primaries narrowly tipped white, white spots or bars on inner webs of secondaries and all but outermost primaries; uppertail black, very occasionally white spots towards tips of outer feathers, only 10 feathers (not 12); black central breast, cinnamon-buff lower breast to undertail-coverts with black bars or chevrons, latter less pronounced on belly; underwing blackish, barred white, coverts white; long bill chisel-tipped, culmen slightly curved, broad across nostrils, black; iris white to pinkish-white; legs dark grey. Female has red areas of head replaced with black. Juvenile duller and browner than adult, more barring on back, duller and greyer with broader barring below, crest feathers longer, head pattern as respective adult. Race peruvianus differs from nominate in having lower back and rump cinnamon-buff and often strongly barred, often narrow cinnamon-buff bars on uppertail-coverts.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Details of diet not documented. Often in pairs. Forages in interior of forest, at all levels, predominantly on trunks and large limbs.

Commonest call nasal “kyaaah” or “peeyáw”, often repeated; fast “kikikikikawh”, mostly in flight; descending “kikikiki-keh-keh-kah-kah” in excitement. Loud instrumental signal a brief double rap.