English                -               White Woodpecker

Portuguese        -                Pica-pau Branco

Latin                   -                Melanerpes candidus

I photographed the White Woodpecker when we went to visit Pousada São João Ecotour in the Pantanal (2,268 km from Vila Velha) which is not only a hotel but it is also a working farm. I was walking around the grounds of the pousada on a hot, hot day when I heard a distinctive tap, tap, tapping. Looked up and observed the White Woodpecker doing what woodpeckers do best, tap, tap tapping. I was able to observe it for quite along time. it didn’t seem to bothered with me being there. The first 2 above photos are of the same bird in the same tree. The third photo was taken a couple of hundred metres away, later on the day. Not to sure if it was the same White Woodpecker.

* Smallish to medium-sized Woodpecker of 29 cm in length and weighs around 136 g.   

* The common call of the White Woodpecker  is a “ghirreh” or “kreer”

* Its range extends from Suriname and French Guiana, through much of Brazil to southeastern Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina, east of the Andes.

* The White Woodpecker inhabits dry subtropical forest, woodland and open wooded areas, grasslands and savannahs with lightly scattered trees.

* Predominantly will eat fruits, also seeds and honey, insects, including wild bees and wasps and their larvae.

* The female lays 3-4 white eggs. The incubation is shared by both parents, but its duration is unknown, the young fledge about 35 days after hatching.

* The White Woodpecker is not threatened at this moment, and occurs in several protected areas and national parks or biological reserves in Brazil. The breeding areas seem to be expanding in the southern parts of the range. This species though is sometimes persecuted because they cause damages in orchards and fruit plantations. It can be trapped for the cage-bird trade in parts of Argentina. It is classified as a species ”of least concerned”