Melanerpes pucherani
Silhouette: Jason Dilworth · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The black-cheeked woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Mexico south to Ecuador. The black-cheeked woodpecker and several others were for a time placed in genus Tripsurus. It and the golden-naped woodpecker (M. chrysauchen) form a superspecies. The black-cheeked woodpecker is monotypic but assigning it two subspecies has sometimes been proposed.
The black-cheeked woodpecker's specific epithet commemorates the French zoologist Jacques Pucheran. The black-cheeked woodpecker is 17 to 19 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 42 to 68 g (1.5 to 2.4 oz). The sexes' plumage is alike except for their head pattern. Adult males have a golden yellow forehead and a red crown and nape. Adult females have a white to buffy white forehead, a black central crown, and a red hindcrown and nape. Both sexes have black around the eye that extends down the side of the neck and a white line behind the eye. Their upper back has black and white bars and their lower back and uppertail coverts are white with a pale buff tinge and sometimes some blackish bars. Their flight feathers... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black-cheeked Woodpecker sighting in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 1,251 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 329 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Black-cheeked Woodpecker in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against about 50% in February and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-cheeked 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 25 parks where we can rate Black-cheeked Woodpecker sightings, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%) and Cahuita National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Black-cheeked Woodpecker that you can see in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Pale-billed Woodpecker (about 20%), Cinnamon Woodpecker (about 10%) and Lineated Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-cheeked Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (1,251 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.
