Cream-backed Woodpecker in the Iberá Wetlands: where and when…

One of the largest and most impressive woodpeckers of the Iberá, at 28 to 30 cm. The plumage is black with a cream-white patch on the upper back that makes it unmistakable in flight. In the male, the head, crest and neck are entirely red except for a small black-and-white oval on the ear coverts. The female has a black forehead and a cream band on the cheek, and her crest is longer than the male's. The bill is long, broad and pale ivory in color. It inhabits Chaco-type woodlands and savannas, in areas with large mature trees, where it excavates its nest holes in the widest trunks.

Behaviour

Solitary or in pairs. It forages on the trunks and large branches of mature trees, striking hard to extract the larvae of wood-boring insects from dead or diseased wood. Its drumming is a loud, powerful double knock, unlike the fast, continuous roll of the smaller woodpeckers. It requires forests with mature trees and a proportion of standing dead wood.

How and when to see it

Year round in the portals with the most mature woodland and large trees. The powerful drumming on the large trunks gives it away.

Where to see it in the Iberá

The gateways of the Great Iberá Park where cream-backed woodpecker has confirmed presence:

GalarzaSee the gateway → San AntonioSee the gateway → CambyretáSee the gateway → MburucuyáSee the gateway → CarambolaSee the gateway →

Tours to see it

Verified providers operating at the gateways where cream-backed woodpecker lives. You contact them directly on WhatsApp from the app.

Species profile

Common nameCream-backed Woodpecker
Scientific nameCampephilus leucopogon
GroupBird
StatusNative

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