Blond-crested Woodpecker

Blond-crested Woodpecker

Celeus flavescens

Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at São Paulo

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

3,902 Verified sightings at São Paulo
1,353 In all 5 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Blond-crested Woodpecker

The blond-crested woodpecker (Celeus flavescens) is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The blond-crested woodpecker was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other woodpeckers in the genus Picus and coined the binomial name Picus flavescens. The specific epithet flavescens is Latin meaning "golden-yellowish". Gmelin based his description on the "yellow-crested woodpecker" from Brazil that had been described and illustrated in 1776 by the English naturalist Peter Brown. Thomas Pennant had provided Brown with a drawing of the bird. The blond-crested woodpecker is now one of 13 species placed in the genus Celeus that was introduced in 1831 by Friedrich Boie.

What is now the ochre-backed woodpecker (C. ochraceus) was previously included as a third subspecies. The blond-crested woodpecker is about 27 to 30 cm (11... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:11

Brazil · 2025

© Joost van Bruggen · XC1050439 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song0:29

Brazil · 2025

© Daniel Hinckley · XC1012126 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Drumming0:29

Brazil · 2023

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC838380 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Serra dos Órgãos National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~40%
2 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
3 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
4 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
5 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 São Paulo 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
2 Vitória 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
3 Niterói 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 Campinas 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
5 Santos 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
6 Porto Alegre 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Parque das Aves 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Blond-crested Woodpecker in São Paulo?

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blond-crested Woodpecker sighting in São Paulo on a given day, based on 3,902 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 28th most-seen of the 353 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Blond-crested Woodpecker in São Paulo?

March and May–December

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blond-crested Woodpecker in São Paulo on a given day, against about 20% in January–February and April, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Blond-crested Woodpecker?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blond-crested Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is São Paulo the best place to see a Blond-crested Woodpecker?

Yes

Of the 6 cities where we can rate Blond-crested Woodpecker sightings, São Paulo has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Vitória (Brazil, about 20%) and Niterói (Brazil, about 20%).

Which relatives of the Blond-crested Woodpecker live in São Paulo?

Same family: Picidae

The closest relatives of the Blond-crested Woodpecker that you can see in São Paulo (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Campo Flicker (about 10%), Lineated Woodpecker (about 10%) and Green-barred Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Blond-crested Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Blond-crested Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in São Paulo (3,902 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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