Illustration of male Red-necked and Robust Woodpeckers by George F. Sandström

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

Continuing with the 5th entry in this series, here is a beautiful illustration by George F. Sandström which appears on Plate 80 of Woodpeckers of the World by Lester L. Short, published by the Delaware Museum of Natural History (1982). The bird at the upper portion of the illustration is a male Red-necked Woodpecker and a male Robust Woodpecker appears below.

You can find a detailed profile that I authored of the Red-necked Woodpecker at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World site at this link:

Red-necked Woodpecker

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

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

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.

Robust Woodpecker in Brazil

Originally posted 7/27/13 - backdated to organize posts by topic. 

 

PICA-PAU-REI (Campephilus robustus ), a photo by Dario Sanches on Flickr.

Here is a portrait of a Robust Woodpecker in Piraju-SP Brazil. The detail and colors in this photo are fantastic! So is the lighting. I'm guessing this bird is a juvenile female because we can see the striking facial pattern developing - namely - the  pale stripe outlined in black that extends from the base of the bill to behind and below the eye. Photo posted here under Creative Commons license.

Pica-pau-rei - Robust Woodpecker

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

Campephilus robustus, originally uploaded by jquental.

Check out the great detail and excellent lighting in this photo of a male Robust Woodpecker by Joao Quental. He took this photo at Parque Nacional do Itatiaia in Brasil.

Many thanks for permission to post this photo here!

Pica-Pau-Rei - Robust Woodpecker

Originally posted 6/23/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Pica Pau Rei - Robust Woodpecker - Campephilus Robustus, originally uploaded by Takao Takayama.

Taking a short break from Campephilus illustrations, enjoy this stunning photo of a female Robust Woodpecker that is © Takao Takayama and posted here with permission. The female bird has a rather striking facial pattern that includes a whitish moustachial stripe bordered with black above and blackish chin.  A fantastic photo!

Occasionally, I come across photos of the Robust Woodpecker that were taken at Iguazu Falls.  It's one of South America's most popular tourist destinations, located on the border of Brazil and Argentina, so if you visit, please be on the lookout for this impressive woodpecker!

Robust Woodpecker Feeding Its Young

Originally posted 12/28/11 - backdated to organize posts by topic. 

This video of a female Robust Woodpecker, Pica-pau-rei, feeding its nestling is remarkable for its quality. You can adjust settings at your end to watch the video in 720p HD. It's interesting to see how it takes a while for the adult bird to transfer the beetle grub to the young bird. This is one of many excellent videos and photos that can be found at Fotografias da Natureza, a site by Jorge Kutsmi where he shares beautiful imagery that he has captured in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. 

Below is an introduction from Jorge Kutsmi's site (translated into English using Google) along with a link to his site.

Visit Fotografias da Natureza here.

Birds of the Atlantic Forest

Most people do not have the opportunity to be in touch with nature and see that there are still gems to survive despite the ravages and neglect by which, directly or indirectly we are all responsible. This reality, the idea of ​​recording a short drive by the Atlantic Forest, to observe their birds, captured by the lens of a camera. Admire them here while they live there in the forest free, perpetual colors, sounds and movements: the nobility of photography!

And here is the intriguing story of this video:

Martjan Lammertink said...
A remarkable thing about this video is that the cavity seems extremely shallow and that the chick seems to be sitting horizontally on the bottom while it is being fed. Typically, Campephilus nest holes (and those of most other woodpeckers) are quite deep. When the chicks are near fledging, they receive food in the nest entrance but in a different posture than what is seen in the video. I e-mailed the film maker Jorge Kutsmi to ask if there was a special circumstance that made the chick end up in this odd, apparent emergency situation of a cavity, and indeed Jorge wrote back to me with the following:

“The explanation I got was that the nest was originally in the same tree (an embaúba tree in an advanced stage of decay). A rain storm with strong gusts of wind broke the tree exactly where the original nest cavity was. The person who took care of the land found the broken tree and two young woodpeckers, one dead and another alive and all wet. Because the parents were around he put the chick in another cavity in the part of the same tree that was still standing and they started to feed him. It is even possible the hole in the video was made by the person who rescued the chick, I never met him and did not hear more details of the event”.
 

Pica-pau-rei - Macho

Originally posted 2/22/11 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Pica-pau-rei (Campephilus robustus) - Macho, originally uploaded by Cláudio Timm.

Enjoy this fine photo of a male Robust Woodpecker with his red crest feathers extended! The photo was taken by Cláudio Timm in Santa Catarina, Brazil.  It's posted here under Creative Commons license.

Robust Woodpecker Video

Originally posted 2/7/11 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

This video shows a male Robust Woodpecker on a snag in Parque Nacional Iguazú in Argentina.  Turn your volume up to hear this bird do two double knocks, a signal these woodpeckers use to keep in close touch with each other.

This video is posted here courtesy of:

Birds of the Pampas Plain

Robust Woodpecker with a Lineated Woodpecker

Originally posted 4/4/13 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Here is an interesting photo out of the Atlantic Forest in Argentina by field researcher Dr. Martjan Lammertink. It features a male Robust Woodpecker, a member of the Campephilus genus, at the cavity entrance, along with a male Lineated Woodpecker, a member of the Dryocopus genus, outside on the tree trunk. The Lineated Woodpecker is often confused with another member of the Campephilus genus, the Crimson-crested Woodpecker, both of which are very wide-ranging species. I could sure imagine the Robust Woodpecker saying something like "Hey, move along buddy!" to this fellow woodpecker! To see more photos by Martjan Lammertink, visit:

PicidPics

Incidentally, this photo reminds me of the time I observed four species of woodpeckers all visiting the pear tree in my family's backyard at the same time one fine autumn day in Queens, NYC. Those four species, representing four different genera, were Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Sure wish I had a photo of all of them as fine as this one!

A Robust Woodpecker, Resting

Originally posted 6/26/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

In this video clip, a female Robust Woodpecker is captured in a very chilled-out moment.  Check out that large, white bill! Change video settings to 480p for highest resolution.

Pica-pau-rei (Campephilus robustus) - Macho

Originally posted 5/2/12 - backdated to organize posts by topic. 

Pica-pau-rei (Campephilus robustus) - Macho, a photo by Cláudio Timm on Flickr.

Here is quite the handsome male Robust Woodpecker photographed by Cláudio Timm and posted here under Creative Commons license.

Robust Woodpecker in Flight

Originally posted 11/2/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Robust Woodpecker (Campephilus robustus) Pica-pau-rei , originally uploaded by Fábio Manfredini.

It's rare to find a photo of any Campephilus woodpecker flying, so I am grateful to have permission from Fábio Manfredini to post his photo of a male Robust Woodpecker in flight. He took the photo in the beautiful Atlantic forest of Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho in Brazil.  With its wings extended, you can see the many pale chestnut spots across this bird's flight feathers that are not visible when the wings are folded.

Robust Woodpecker

Robust Woodpecker, originally uploaded by MattSullivan.

Photo © Matt Sullivan and many thanks to him for granting permission to post this photo of a male Robust Woodpecker.

Robust Woodpecker

Photo © by Arthur Grosset and thanks to him for granting permission to post this photo of a female Robust Woodpecker.  Arthur Grossest's site is here.

Robust Woodpecker

Robust Woodpecker, Campephilus robustus - female, originally uploaded by Sandman in Dubai.

Photo © Sandman in Dubai on Flickr and many thanks to him for granting permission to post this photo of a female Robust Woodpecker.

Robust Woodpecker

Robust Woodpecker, Campephilus robustus - female, originally uploaded by Sandman in Dubai.

Photo © Sandman in Dubai on Flickr and many thanks to him for granting permission to post this photo of a female Robust Woodpecker.

A Foraging Robust Woodpecker

Originally posted 4/14/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Many thanks to willi377 for posting this video on YouTube.

A friend of mine recently made me aware of this video of a foraging female Robust Woodpecker obtained at Iguazú National Park in Argentina.  It's interesting to watch this bird scaling substantial amounts of bark off the tree trunk.

Robust Woodpecker

IMG_5982, originally uploaded by AlexeyN.

Photo © AlexeyN from Flickr and many thanks to him for granting permission to post this photo of a female Robust Woodpecker. He described the photo as follows:

This Robust Woodpecker was very busy knocking the wood. in fact, the speed it was swinging it's head was so high, I had a hard time freezing the motion.