Illustration of female Magellanic and Cream-backed Woodpeckers by George F. Sanström

Illustration by George F. Sandström, © Delaware Museum of Natural History

Here is another splendid illustration by George F. Sandström of two woodpeckers within the Campephilus genus which appears on Plate 82 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982).  

On the left is a female Magellanic Woodpecker. And on the right is a female Cream-backed Woodpecker. It is a somewhat whimsical illustration because the ranges of these two species does not overlap so that you would never see them together in the wild. Here is the range info for each species from Woodpeckers of the World along with links to their range maps:

Magellanic Woodpecker - Found in temperate forests of southern South America from central eastern Chile and central western Argentina southward along the Andes Mountains and the Chilean lowlands to Tierra del Fuego. Habitat mature southern beech and southern beech-cypress forests from timberline to the coast wherever suitable habitat exists.

Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus)

Cream-backed Woodpecker - South-central South America from north-central Bolivia (Cochabamba) south through western and central Paraguay to La Rioja, Córdoba, and Entre Rios, Argentina, and to westernmost Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Its range includes all of the chaco (xeric) woodlands, including its extension toward Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, subtropical forests of Tucumán and La Rioja, and dry valleys of Bolivia to an elevation of at least 5600 feet (Chilon, Santa Cruz, near Cochabamba border).  

Cream-backed Woodpecker (Campephilus leucopogon)

 

This illustration is posted here pursuant to permission obtained from the publisher.

Carpintero Lomo Blanco

Carpintero Lomo Blanco, a photo by Javier Parigini on Flickr.

What an amazing portrait this is of a pair of Cream-backed Woodpeckers! The male is perched on the side of the tree, distinguished by his entirely red head with that black and white oval patch. The female is perched at the cavity, and she is distinguished by her black colored forehead and center of crest, and that rather dramatic looking white patch from the base of her bill tapering to a point below the rear of her ear coverts.

This fine photo was taken by Javier Parigini, and it is posted here with his permission.

View more of Javier Parigini's Photography here.

WikiAves - A Enciclopédia das Aves do Brasil

WikiAves Encyclopedia of Brazilian Birds is an amazing resource of Campephilus descriptive information, photos and sounds.   WikiAves represents the four species of Campephilus woodpeckers, listed below, that can be found in Brazil.

The photographs that I have seen in WikiAves are among the most spectacular ones that I've seen anywhere.

In English and Portuguese, the four species of Campephilus in WikiAves are:

• Cream-backed Woodpecker         Pica-pau-de-barriga-preta

• Crimson-crested Woodpecker      Pica-pau-de-topete-vermelho
  

• Red-necked Woodpecker             Pica-pau-de-barriga-vermelha 

• Robust Woodpecker                    Pica-pau-rei
  

   

Although the entry on the Cream-backed Woodpecker is rather slim (as of this posting) the others have a wealth of descriptive information.  And you'll find sounds and photos for all of them.  You can cut and paste the Portuguese text into your favorite web-based translator to understand the entries.

SIB - Parques Nacionales - Sistema de Información sobre Biodiversidad

There are 4 species of Campephilus that are native to Argentina which contain interesting and detailed profiles (en Español) along with dramatic illustrations of each species, except the Robust Woodpecker, at the SIB - Parques Nacionales - Sistema de Información sobre Biodiversidad site.  Be a bit patient to allow this site to load.

In English and with their Spanish names, the four species of Campephilus at the SIB site are:

1. Crimson-crested Woodpecker     Carpintero garganta negra

          Carpintero grande

2. Cream-backed Woodpecker     Carpintero lomo blanco

3. Magellanic Woodpecker     Carpintero gigante     Carpintero negro patagónico

          Carpintero patagónico

4. Robust Woodpecker     Carpintero grande

Cream-backed Woodpecker

 Originally posted 3/20/2010 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Some of the best woodpecker photos (Campephilus and others) that you will ever find are at a site called PicidPics, like this fantastic photo of a male Cream-backed Woodpecker. 

PicidPics features photos of picids, including woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks by Martjan Lammertink and Julio Pérez Cañestro.  The site also features photos of woodpecker researchers in the field and photos of secondary cavity users.

Visit PicidPics here

Photo © Martjan Lammertink, posted here with permission.

This photo shows the bird's pale creamy mantle in excellent detail.  The male has a bright red head with black and white marks at the lower rear edge of its ear coverts.   Like some Campephilus relatives, the Cream-backed Woodpecker has a striking chisel-shaped, ivory-colored bill.

You can also see here the long toe that the large Campephilus woodpeckers extend to their side to secure their stance against a tree.  It's a good brace against gravity!  You'd probably extend your arms out to either side like this if you found yourself braced against a cliff on a narrow ledge.

The Cream-backed Woodpecker inhabits subtropical and dry tropical forests in south central South America in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.  Unlike several of its close relatives, this species occurs in savannas, and it can be observed visiting isolated trees in open areas.

Cream-backed Woodpecker - 3 Photos

Originally posted 3/22/11 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

  
Silvia Vitale was kind enough to grant permission for me to post these excellent photos she took of a female Cream-backed Woodpecker.  She took them at La Cumbre, Cordoba Province, Argentina near the village.  As you see here, the female sports a striking, white moustachial stripe adjacent to her ivory bill.  The male bird's head is almost entirely red.  Cream-backed Woodpeckers inhabit xeric (dry) woodlands of the chaco habitat in southern-central parts of South America, occurring in savannas, pastures with copses, groves, woodland and transitional forests, up to 2,500m.*

*Reference - Woodpeckers: A Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World by H. Winkler, DA Christie & D. Nurney.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Many thanks to Gary Clark for granting permission to post his stunning photograph of a female Cream-backed Woodpecker here.  For more information about this photo, or two see other amazing photos by Gary Clark, visit his web albums at this link.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Many thanks to Karisusi78 for sharing this video of a male Cream-backed Woodpecker from Paraguay.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Many thanks to Karina Diarte on Flickr for sharing this striking photo of a male Cream-backed Woodpecker here. The photo is posted here with her permission.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Many thanks to Karina Diarte on Flickr for sharing this beautiful photo of a female Cream-backed Woodpecker here. The photo is posted here with her permission.

Carpintero Lomo Blanco

Originally posted 10/19/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Here is an interesting video posted by infofon on YouTube that shows a female Carpintero Lomo Blanco, a Cream-backed Woodpecker, displaying an array of behaviors. Two birds are briefly in flight before one bird does a couple of double raps (typical of some members of the Campephilus genus) perhaps to signal another bird nearby. I'm not sure whether or not it is the same bird seen earlier, but toward the end of the video, you will see a female hitching herself up a tree trunk and then foraging.

Press play, then change the setting at the lower right of the video box from  360p to 480p to watch it at higher resolution.

I know a little Spanish, but not enough to translate the comments in this video. If you can translate them into English, please post a comment and then I'll revise this post with that info.  UPDATE - Thanks to Martjan for this translation of the video comments into English:

"Well, we are going to try to continue observing. They told us it is very difficult to make a video take because they do not sit still. And they stay very few seconds in a tree and then fly to another tree. So we continue to walk, searching for other individuals around here".

Cream-backed Woodpeckers: A Closer Look

Originally posted 7/4/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

It's hard to convey the brilliance of the nearly 150-year old, hand-colored lithographs in Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des Picidées that one sees upon viewing the genuine article.  A closer look at the Cream-backed Woodpeckers depicted in Plate III (female, above and male, below) helps to reveal more of their fine detail.  My apologies if the occasional large-sized photos I post are less than ideal for your particular monitor.

The flight feather on the right belongs to the Robust Woodpecker.  See the full Plate III illustration for a comparison of Cream-backed and Robust Woodpecker flight feathers.

This illustration is within the public domain appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Mégapic de Boié, the Cream-backed Woodpecker

Originally posted 7/3/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Here's Plate III from Alfred Malherbe's Monographie des Picidées depicting the striking female Cream-backed Woodpecker on the left, the male bird on the right, and a pair of Robust Woodpeckers in the background.

Clicking on any of these illustrations will take you into my album of Malherbe's illustrations where you can download large-sized illustration files. The image above is within the public domain and it appears here courtesy of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Cream-backed Woodpeckers: Two Videos

 Originally posted 8/21/2010 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Enjoy two videos recently posted by baco1970 that show the striking Cream-backed Woodpecker in Brazil.

The first video shows a male bird that has a red crest and red head with a small oval of black and white at the lower rear edge of its ear coverts.  The second video shows one male with two female birds whose crests are a bit longer than the male's, with black from the forehead up through the central area of the crest.  Females birds also display dramatic looking moustachial stripes.

To view many more amazing bird videos, visit baco1970's YouTube channel 

or the Pantanal Bird Club site!

This video and the next one are best viewed in their enhanced versions.  Be sure to click 360p in the lower right corner of the frame and select 480p as soon as they start to play.

Pica-pau-de-barriga-preta (Campephilus leucopogon) - Fêmea

Originally posted 10/6/12 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Pica-pau-de-barriga-preta (Campephilus leucopogon) - Fêmea, a photo by Cláudio Timm on Flickr.

This is such a wonderful photograph of a female Cream-backed Woodpecker by talented photographer Cláudio Timm, posted here under Creative Commons license. The facial markings of this bird, extending the white coloration of the beak further back with similarly colored feathers, never ceases to amaze me! This is an attribute that Cream-backed Woodpeckers share with female members of two Campephilus sister species, the Red-necked and Robust Woodpeckers.

Cream-backed Woodpecker Family

Originally posted 9/13/2010 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Here's a video of a Cream-backed Woodpecker family group that has a pleasant soundtrack and also includes interesting vocalizations by the birds.   Near the end, just before the one minute mark, note the two double-knocks that the male bird does which compel a female bird to draw close, from the bottom then toward him by hitching herself up the tree trunk!

Thanks to Michael Blendinger for sharing this clip with us.

Visit his Discovering Bolivia site here.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Cream-backed Woodpecker, originally uploaded by Lathers.

Many thanks to Lathers on Flickr for sharing this striking photo of a male Cream-backed Woodpecker here. The photo is posted here with his permission.

Cream-backed Woodpecker - A Pair of Females

CARPINTERO LOMO BLANCO (Campephilus leucopogon), originally uploaded by arnemiguel.

Many thanks to arnemimiguel on Flickr for granting permission to post this photo of a pair of female Cream-backed Woodpeckers here.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Cream-backed Woodpecker, originally uploaded by Charles Hesse.

Many thanks to Charles Hesse for granting permission to post this photo of a male Cream-backed Woodpecker from Llanos de Moxos, Beni.

Cream-backed Woodpecker

Originally posted 4/10/2010 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Argen 007, originally uploaded by hanbyholmes.

A male Cream-backed Woodpecker surveys its surroundings in Argentina.  Photo is © hanbyholmes and posted here with permission.