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 - Ochre-backed Woodpecker
 - Ochre-backed Woodpecker
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Ochre-backed Woodpecker Celeus ochraceus Scientific name definitions

Josep del Hoyo, Nigel Collar, and David Christie
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated November 1, 2018

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Introduction

Ochre-backed Woodpecker formerly was classified as a subspecies of Blond-crested Woodpecker (Celeus flavescens). Both species have a blond, crested head, and the males of both have a large red moustachial stripe, while females have a less prominent black moustache. The body plumage differs significantly, however: Blond-crested is mostly black, with a buffy rump, and narrow buff bars across the wings and the back; but in Ochre-backed, the underparts are dusky, although the feathers are tipped with cinnamon-buff, and the upperparts are predominately cinnamon-buff, spotted or streaked with blackish. Different as they are, these two species are reported to hybridize in eastern Brazil in Espírito Santo and southern Bahia. A further complication is that one subspecies of Blond-crested Woodpecker, intercedens, which occurs in the interior of eastern Brazil, is intermediate in appearance between the two. subspecies. Ochre-backed Woodpecker is a poorly known species of Celeus, although its biology probably is similar to that of other members of the genus.

Subspecies

Monotypic.
Distribution of the Ochre-backed Woodpecker - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Ochre-backed Woodpecker

Recommended Citation

del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and D. A. Christie (2020). Ochre-backed Woodpecker (Celeus ochraceus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blcwoo5.01
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