Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Where to see

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Melanerpes pucherani

Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge leads · 15 parks ranked by real sighting rates

Parks Ranked

Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Black-cheeked Woodpecker during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)

#ParkCountrySighting
1 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~60%
2 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~50%
3 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~50%
4 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~50%
5 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
6 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~40%
7 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
8 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
9 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~30%
10 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~30%
11 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
~30%
12 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
13 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~30%
14 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇧🇿 Belize
~20%
15 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%

Before you go

Which is the best park to see a Black-cheeked Woodpecker?

Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge

In Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black-cheeked Woodpecker sighting on a given day, the highest of the 15 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.

Where else can you see a Black-cheeked Woodpecker?

Arenal Volcano National Park and more

After Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, the next-best odds of seeing a Black-cheeked Woodpecker are in Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%), Cahuita National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%) and Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 50%). Outside Central America, the best options are Utría National Natural Park in South America (about 30%) and Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in North America (about 20%).

When is the best time to see a Black-cheeked Woodpecker?

It depends on the park

In the top parks, the best months are June in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (about 80%), March and October in Arenal Volcano National Park (about 60%) and March, June, September and December in Cahuita National Park (about 60%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Black-cheeked Woodpecker on a given day. Each park's Black-cheeked Woodpecker page has the full month-by-month chart.