Golden-fronted woodpkr Melanerpes aurifrons

Identification Tips:

• Length: 8.5 inches
• Medium-sized woodpecker
• Pale gray head, throat, breast, and belly
• Yellow nape patch and yellow spot above bill
• Back strongly barred with black and white
• Black wings barred and spotted with white
• White bases to the primaries appear as white crescent in the hand in flight
• White rump and uppertail coverts
• Dark tail with dark central retricies

Adult male:

• Small red cap on top of head

Similar species:

Gila Woodpecker is darker brown about the head and belly, lacks the yellow nape and spot above bill, and has black and white barring on the central retricies. Red-bellied Woodpecker overlaps in range and hybrids are known so caution should be exercised when making identifications where they cooccur. Note the Red-bellied's red nape and barred central retricies in all plumages.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.