Melanerpes candidus
Silhouette: Jason Dilworth · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The white woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) is a South American species of woodpecker (family Picidae) native to the wooded grasslands of Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. It is a bright white bird with black wings and a distinctive small bright yellow eye patch. The IUCN has rated it as a "least-concern species".
The species was first described as Melanerpes candidus in 1796 by the French naturalist Bernhard Christian Otto, the type locality being Cayenne. It is sometimes placed in its own genus Leuconerpes, but shows many similarities in morphology to Melanerpes. No subspecies are known (monotypic).
This woodpecker grows to a length of 24 to 29 cm (9.4 to 11.4 in) and weighs around 108 g (3.8 oz), with a range of 98 to 131 g (3.5 to 4.6 oz). It is one of the largest Melanerpes woodpeckers along with the Jamaican woodpecker and Lewis' woodpecker. The mantle, back, wings and tail of the adult are black, the flight feathers being brownish-black above and the underside of the wings being greyish-black. The crown, face, rump and underparts are white, sometimes with some buff shading. The male has some yellowing of... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 5 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 8 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Copenhagen Zoo | 🇩🇰 Denmark |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a White Woodpecker sighting in Emas National Park on a given day, based on 63 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 63rd most-seen of the 187 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a White Woodpecker in Emas National Park on a given day, against about 20% in March and July, the lowest months. April and December–February have too few records to rate.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 10 parks where we can rate White Woodpecker sightings, Emas National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 20%) and El Impenetrable National Park (Argentina, about 10%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the White Woodpecker that you can see in Emas National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Campo Flicker (about 60%), Lineated Woodpecker (about 20%) and White-wedged Piculet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Emas National Park (63 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
