Golden-fronted woodpecker

Golden-fronted woodpecker
	A male from the northern subspecies group at Roma, Texas
	Velasquez's woodpecker from Honduras
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Picidae
Genus:	Melanerpes
Species:	M. aurifrons
Binomial name
	Melanerpes aurifrons; (Wagler, 1829)
	Range

The golden-fronted woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in the southern United States (mostly Texas), Mexico and parts of Central America.

Taxonomy and systematics

The golden-fronted woodpecker was formally described in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler under the binomial name Picus aurifrons.^[2] The specific epithet combines the Latin aurum, auri meaning "gold" with frons, frontis meaning "forehead", "brow" or "front".^[3] The type locality is the state of Hidalgo in south central Mexico.^[4] The golden-fronted woodpecker is now one of the 23 species placed in the genus Melanerpes that was introduced by the English ornithologist William Swainson in 1832.^[5]

Twelve subspecies are recognised, many of which are restricted to islands.^[5]

M. a. aurifrons (Wagler, 1829) – central south USA to central south Mexico
M. a. polygrammus (Cabanis, 1862) – Oaxaca to Chiapas (southwest Mexico)
M. a. grateloupensis (Lesson, RP, 1839) – south Tamaulipas to Puebla and central Veracruz (east Mexico)
M. a. veraecrucis Nelson, 1900 – south Veracruz (east Mexico) to north Guatemala
M. a. dubius (Cabot, S, 1844) – Yucatán Peninsula (southeast Mexico) to Belize and northeast Guatemala
M. a. leei (Ridgway, 1885) – Cozumel (just east of Mexico)
M. a. turneffensis (Russell, 1963) – Turneffe Atoll (off Belize)
M. a. santacruzi (Bonaparte, 1838) – south Chiapas (south Mexico) to north Nicaragua
M. a. hughlandi Dickerman, 1987 – central Guatemala
M. a. pauper (Ridgway, 1888) – north Honduras
M. a. insulanus (Bond, J, 1936) – Utila (Bay Islands, off north Honduras)
M. a. canescens (Salvin, 1889) – islands of Roatán and Barburat Island (off Honduras)

All the subspecies in the above list, except for the nominate have sometimes been considered as a separate species, Velasquez's woodpecker (Melanerpes santacruzi).^[5]^[6]

Description

The golden-fronted woodpecker is 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10 in) long and weighs 65 to 102 g (2.3 to 3.6 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except for the pattern on their heads. Adult males have a red crown and a golden orange to yellow nape with a gap between them; females have a grayish crown and a paler yellow nape. On adults of both sexes the rest of the head is various shades of gray. Their upperparts are mostly barred black and white, with white uppertail coverts that have a few black spots. Their flight feathers are black with variable amounts of white on the primaries. Their tail is mostly black with variable amounts of white on the outermost three pairs of feathers. Their underparts are smoke gray to drab gray with light blackish bars on the flanks and undertail coverts and a yellow patch on the belly. Their iris is deep red to reddish brown, their bill is black to grayish black, and their legs and feet are grayish green to greenish gray. Juveniles are duller overall than adults, with little or no orange on the nape, indistinct barring on the upperparts, and fine dusky streaks on the underparts. Males have a small red crown patch and females just a few red feathers there.^[7]

Distribution and habitat

The golden-fronted woodpecker is found from southwestern Oklahoma through central Texas onto the Mexican Plateau as far as Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, and Hidalgo. It is a casual visitor to New Mexico and East Texas, and has been recorded once each in Michigan and Florida.^[7] It inhabits both mesic and xeric landscapes. It favors the latter, which include mesquite brushlands and riparian woodlands. It also frequents urban parks and suburban areas.^[7]^[8]

Behavior

Movement

The golden-fronted woodpecker is a year-round resident throughout its range.^[7]

Feeding

The golden-fronted woodpecker's diet is adult and larval arthropods, some aerial insects, much fruit and nuts, and corn. It has been observed predating other birds' eggs. The species forages mainly in trees, especially on major limbs and typically below 6 m (20 ft). It also forages on open or grassy ground but seldom under brush. It takes its food by gleaning, pecking, probing, and least frequently by aerial flycatching.^[7]

Breeding

The golden-fronted woodpecker usually remains paired year-round, and is territorial even outside the nesting season. In Texas it breeds between March and July, and often produces two broods per year. Both sexes excavate the nest cavity in the trunk or limb of a tree, both live and dead. It also sometimes uses utility poles, fence posts, and nest boxes. The cavity is usually between 2 and 9 m (7 and 30 ft) above the ground. Most clutches are of four or five eggs, and both sexes incubate. The incubation period is 12 to 14 days and fledging occurs about 30 days after hatch.^[7]

Songs and calls

Listen to golden-fronted woodpecker sensu lato on xeno-canto

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The golden-fronted woodpecker's call is "a loud harsh kirrr or a hard tig tig" that is often repeated in a series. Its drumming is "short and relatively slow".^[9]

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has not assessed the golden-fronted woodpecker separately from Velasquez's woodpecker. The golden-fronted woodpecker sensu lato is considered to be of Least Concern, with a stable population.^[1] It is considered common in much of Texas; population data from Mexico is sparse. It "appears to adjust well to human-altered environments, occupying parks and urban areas."^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b BirdLife International (2016). "Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22680862A92883010. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680862A92883010.en. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
^ Wagler, Johann Georg (1829). "Beyträge und Bemerkungen zu dem ersten Bande seines Systema Avium". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 22. cols 505–519 [512].
^ Jobling, James A. "aurifrons". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1948). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 162.
^ ^a ^b ^c Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Woodpeckers". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
^ Llanes-Quevedo, A.; Mastretta-Yanes, A.; Sánchez-González, L.A.; Castillo-Chora, V.J.; Navarro-Sigüenza, A.G. (2022). "The tangled evolutionary history of a long-debated Mesoamerican taxon: The Velazquez Woodpecker (Melanerpes santacruzi, Aves: Picidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 170: 107445. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107445.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Husak, M. S. and T. C. Maxwell (2020). Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.gofwoo.01 retrieved January 20, 2023
^ Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. pp. 335–336.
^ Sibley, David Allen (2003). Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. Sibley Field Guides. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 247. ISBN 0-679-45120-X.

External links

Golden-fronted woodpecker, a bibliographic resource
Golden-fronted woodpecker photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
Cornell Ornithology "All About Birds" Golden-fronted woodpecker