Confusion Species - Lineated Woodpecker

Carpintero real barbirrayado [Lineated Woodpecker] (Dryocopus lineatus lineatus) (♂), originally uploaded by barloventomagico.

The Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus), a relative of the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), is often confused with the Crimson-crested Woodpecker, and vice versa. But by comparing this picture with those of the Crimson-crested Woodpecker, the differences do become obvious. The red mustache and full red crest of this bird tells us it's a male.  Creative Commons licensed photo.

Two Woodpeckers, in Mexico

Originally posted 1/4/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

 

UPDATE:  After posting this photo, a friend of mine expressed doubt that the topmost bird is a Lineated Woodpecker.  For example, the tail feathers much more closely resemble those of a Pale-billed Woodpecker.  Also, the white markings on lineateds do not typically come together in the "V" shape apparent here on the bird's back whereas they do meet like that in pale-bills.   So, based on appearance alone, I'd call both of these birds as pale-bills.  In corresponding with John Lofgreen, he maintains that he did indeed observe and capture a Lineated Woodpecker as the upper bird in this image.   In any event, it's an interesting and pleasing image that I'm grateful to have here.
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Here is another photo that is extraordinary because it includes two species of woodpeckers that are rarely photographed together.   The Pale-billed Woodpecker belongs to the Campephilus genus.   The Lineated Woodpecker belongs to the Dryocopus genus (the same genus that Pileated and Black Woodpeckers belong to). These two birds look similar and so are confusion species.  It is not uncommon to see each bird listed as the other species on photos posted on the web.

Many thanks to John Lofgreen of Anchorage, Alaska for sharing this photo here.  He almost caught a third woodpecker species with these two!  As he wrote:

This is another photo from Singayta. The lower bird on the left, is a Pale-billed Woodpecker. The upper bird is a Lineated Woodpecker. This was the last photo on that roll of film. While I was changing rolls, a Golden-cheeked Woodpecker landed next to them, but all three birds were gone before I was ready to shoot again. What a photo it would have been.

 John is a published wildlife artist.  You can find more of his beautiful work here:

 at his site John Lofgreen Wildlife Art and at his blog  The Life of a Painter

Singayta is a good bird watching location close to San Blas, Nayarit on the west coast of Mexico.

http://www.singayta.com/

Album de aves amazonicas (1900)

Album de aves amazonicas by Emil August Göldi was published in 1900.  The book, including its many wonderful colored plates, is available for free download in various formats from the Biodiversity Hermitage Library at Internet Archive.  In this print, a pair of Red-necked Woodpeckers appears in the upper right corner, with the female bird in the foreground.  The large woodpecker in the middle resembles a female Crimson-crested Woodpecker, but is identified as a Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) in the text.  Public domain image, courtesy of Internet Archive.

Find the book here at Internet Archive

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!