The red-necked woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Region
Amazon Basin and Guianas
Typical Environment
Occurs widely across the Amazon Basin and the Guianas, including Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Peru, Ecuador, and northern Bolivia. It favors extensive lowland humid forests, especially tall primary terra firme, as well as seasonally flooded várzea and igapó. It is most often encountered in interior forest but also uses edges and selectively logged areas where large trees remain. Foraging is usually in the subcanopy to canopy on large trunks and dead snags.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
One of the largest Amazonian woodpeckers, the red-necked woodpecker is notable for its loud double-knock display typical of the genus Campephilus. It plays an important ecological role by controlling wood-boring insects and by creating cavities later used by other wildlife. Its presence often indicates tracts of mature, relatively intact forest.
Temperament
wary yet vocal; typically deliberate and methodical
Flight Pattern
strong undulating flight with powerful wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually found in pairs or small family groups that maintain year-round territories. Both sexes excavate nest cavities high in large trunks and share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Clutches are small, and pairs often reuse or enlarge cavities in subsequent seasons.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations include loud, nasal yelps and repeated yaps that carry far through the forest. Drumming consists of the characteristic Campephilus double-knock used for communication and territorial display.
Plumage
Glossy black body with bold pale scapular stripes forming a V on the back; head and neck strikingly red in males, with females showing more black on the forecrown and malar. Underparts are mostly dark with some subtle barring on the flanks. Wings are dark, with pale panels visible in flight.
Diet
Primarily feeds on wood-boring beetle larvae, ants, and termites extracted from large trunks and deadwood. It uses powerful blows to scale bark and excavate into decayed wood. Occasionally takes other arthropods and supplements its diet with small amounts of fruit when available.
Preferred Environment
Forages on large, mature trees in the subcanopy and canopy and on prominent dead snags. Often works along edges of clearings or rivers where big trees persist, as well as in interior primary forest.
