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The Red-crowned woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) is a bird found in Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Costa Rica. Dry forests, farms and gardens in Central and northern South America. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, fruit and nectar. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Red-crowned woodpecker lives

Dry forests, farms and gardens in Central and northern South America.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs60%
• 🍎 Fruit30%
• 🌸 Nectar10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Red-crowned woodpecker

Recorded by Francisco contreras (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC838674. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Red-crowned woodpecker

Where does the Red-crowned woodpecker live?

The Red-crowned woodpecker lives in Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Costa Rica. Dry forests, farms and gardens in Central and northern South America.

What does the Red-crowned woodpecker eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 60%), fruit (about 30%), nectar (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Red-crowned woodpecker endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

• Steller's jay
• Lesser yellowlegs
• Northern pintail
• American oystercatcher
• Black-billed magpie
• Amazon kingfisher

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.