White Woodpecker

Melanerpes candidus (Otto, 1796)

White Woodpecker, Melanerpes candidus, is a woodpecker of South America, breeding from coastal Suriname and French Guiana through the lower Amazon basin and eastern Brazil to south-eastern Peru, northern Argentina and Uruguay. It is a member of the Picidae and was described in 1796. The adult is marked by a bright white body with black wings, and it also shows a small yellow patch around the eye. Its range lies east of the Andes, and it occurs in wooded grasslands, forest edges, open woodland, savannah, scrub, plantations, orchards, parkland and mangroves. It is also found in suburbs.

Order

Piciformes

Family

Picidae — Woodpeckers

Breeding range

South America: coastal Suriname and French Guiana; lower Amazon River, e, se Brazil to se Peru, n Argentina and Uruguay