Yellow-throated woodpecker

The yellow-throated woodpecker (Piculus flavigula) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

The yellow-throated woodpecker is 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long and weighs 44 to 63 g (1.6 to 2.2 oz). Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Males of the nominate subspecies P. f. flavigula are red from forehead to hindneck and on the malar (cheek); the former area has black feather bases showing through. The rest of the head including the chin and throat is bright golden-yellow. The female has red only on the nape and the rest of its crown is golden-yellow with green feather tips; its head is otherwise like the male's. Nominate adults have yellowish green upperparts that are brighter on the shoulders and back. Their flight feathers are mostly brownish black with cinnamon patches on the inner webs. Their tail is black with greenish edges on the feathers. Their underparts are green; the breast feathers have whitish centers and black tips while the belly and undertail coverts appear barred or scaly with black. Their shortish beak is black with a paler base, their iris brown, and the legs dark green-gray. Juveniles have duller and greener upperparts than adults and a yellow throat but are otherwise darker on their underparts. Males may have a small red patch on the crown and females have an entirely green crown.

Subspecies P. f. magnus is identical to the nominate except that the male does not have a red malar area. P. f. erythropis differs significantly from the other two subspecies. It is smaller. Males have more extensive red on the crown, and the red of its malar region extends around under the chin and throat as well. Females have a golden-yellow forecrown, malar, and throat, but with some red on the throat. Both sexes' underparts appear more barred than spotted or scaly.