Campephilus melanoleucos
Silhouette: Arthur A. Allen (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The crimson-crested woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Panama, Trinidad, and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
The crimson-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 melanoleucos. The specific epithet melanoleucos combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" with leukos meaning "white". Gmelin based his description on the "buff-crested woodpecker" from Surinam that had been described and illustrated in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham from a specimen in the Leverian Museum in London.
The crimson-crested woodpecker was for a time placed in genus Scapaneus but this was merged into the genus Phloeoceastes by James Peters in 1948. The genus Phloeoceastes was itself merged into the current genus Campephilus by Lester Short in 1982. The crimson-crested woodpecker has three subspecies: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 8 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 10 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 11 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 13 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 14 | Utría National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 15 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 16 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 17 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 18 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 19 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 20 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 21 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 22 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque Municipal Summit | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Crimson-crested Woodpecker sighting in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 240th most-seen of the 294 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crimson-crested Woodpecker in Serra da Canastra National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–March and May–November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crimson-crested 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.
19th of 22
Of the 22 parks where we can rate Crimson-crested Woodpecker sightings, Serra da Canastra National Park ranks 19th at under 5%. The best odds are in Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 40%), Soberanía National Park (Panama, about 30%) and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, about 30%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Crimson-crested Woodpecker that you can see in Serra da Canastra National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Campo Flicker (about 50%), White-barred Piculet (about 20%) and Little Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crimson-crested Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Serra da Canastra National Park (11 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.
