Golden-naped Woodpecker

How to find it

Aim for the wettest forest of the south, where it becomes easier to find. At Carara it is often heard inside the forest without being seen, so a day there does not guarantee it. Learn the churring, rattling call, because patience and knowing its calls usually lead to a sighting where it occurs. Scan the upper and middle levels for a bird tapping on dead trunks and branches. Check fruit feeders and low fruiting trees, where it also feeds. On humid evenings, look over the canopy for birds hunting insects in flight.

How to recognise it

Start with the pattern. This is a small woodpecker, about 18 to 20 cm long. The upperparts are mostly black, with a wide white stripe down the middle of the back and white on the rump. The underparts are barred, and the flanks are barred black and white.

The throat and chest are olive-buff, and the belly has a red patch in the middle. A black mask surrounds the eye and runs back to the nape. Both sexes have a golden-yellow nape.

Males have a yellow forehead, a red crown and a yellow nape. Females have a nearly all-yellow crown and nape, so they show less red on the head.

Behaviour and diet

It is usually seen in pairs or small family groups, and a family group can have up to six birds. It spends its time in the upper and middle levels of trees, tapping and hammering on dead trunks and branches.

It often catches insects in flight, including over the canopy on humid evenings. Young birds stay with their parents until maturity, and the group then shifts into a hole in a tall tree.

In a study at Golfito, both sexes shared incubation and chick feeding. It nests in snags, palms and utility posts.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in the humid rainforest of the south Pacific, from the lowlands up to about 1,500 m. It sticks to mature rainforest, and its range runs from Carara National Park, the northern end, south to the Panama border.

It is nearly confined to the humid forests of the south. Like several relatives, it can persist where habitat has been disturbed to some degree. Both this species and the Red-crowned Woodpecker are common in open country with scattered trees, at forest edges and in the canopy of southern Costa Rica.

Photo records come from Corcovado National Park, Manuel Antonio, Drake Bay, Jaco, Uvita, Ojochal, the Golfito area and the Nauyaca waterfall area.

When to see it

In a study at Golfito, nesting peaked between January and March. Photo records from the southern Pacific include January, February, March, April and July dates, so it is present across many months.

Similar birds

The Red-crowned Woodpecker replaces it in open country and edges on the southern Pacific slope. Red-crowned is a common garden bird, while Golden-naped stays more in forest and is harder to see. On the Caribbean slope the Black-cheeked Woodpecker takes its place, and it is easier to see because it tolerates deforestation better. One guide says a female Golden-naped looks a bit like a Three-toed Woodpecker.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican sources also call it Carpintero Nuquidorado. Other names listed are carpintero enmascarado and carpinterito nuquidorado.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident endemic (R-END), and the IUCN rates it Least Concern as a non-migratory resident.

Photography tips

It visits fruit feeders and forages in low fruiting trees, which makes it easier to photograph. One guide says patience and knowing its calls usually lead to a sighting where it occurs.