About Melanerpes pulcher P.L.Sclater, 1870
Description: The beautiful woodpecker (Melanerpes pulcher) measures about 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in) in length. Males and females look similar except for the pattern on their head. Adult males have a whitish forehead, a scarlet crown, and golden yellow on the lower nape and hindneck. Adult females share the same whitish forehead and yellow hindneck, but have a black forecrown and scarlet hindcrown and nape. Both sexes have black coloring around the eye that extends down the side of the neck. Their lores, cheeks, chin, throat, and breast range from white to cream or pale yellow. Their mantle and upper wings are mainly black, with some white barring on the flight feathers, while the back and rump are white, sometimes marked with black blotches. Their tail is brownish black; the lower breast, belly, and flanks have black and white barring, and there is a red patch on the mid-belly. Their iris is very dark brown, the beak is blackish with a paler base, and their legs are gray. Juveniles are duller than adults, their black areas are browner, the barring on their underparts is less contrasting, and their belly patch is smaller and more orange. Distribution and habitat: The beautiful woodpecker is endemic to the Magdalena River valley in north central Colombia. It primarily lives in mature open forests of both dry and humid types. It is sometimes found in plantations, and occasionally occurs in fragmented and secondary forest. It inhabits elevations ranging between 400 and 1,500 m (1,300 and 4,900 ft).
