Birdfinding.info ⇒ Very common, conspicuous, and easy to find throughout Hispaniola, wherever there are trees, including Santo Domingo and coastal resort areas. Possibly the most ubiquitous of Hispaniola’s endemic birds.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker
Melanerpes striatus
Family: Picidae
Endemic to Hispaniola, where it is widespread and numerous in most habitats including agricultural and settled areas.
Identification
A striking woodpecker with a bold black-and-gold pattern on its back and wings, gray face, olive to brownish underparts, red rump, black tail, and glowing yellow eyes.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male above and female below. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; March 8, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Male has a broad red stripe that extends from the crown to the nape. Female has the same pattern, but black on the crown and red on the hindcrown and nape.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female left and male right. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; March 8, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female left and male right. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; March 8, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female above and male below. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; March 8, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Río San Juan, Dominican Republic; January 13, 2007.) © Alex Thomson
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; August 31, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; May 15, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; August 31, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; October 18, 2015.) © Clive Daelman
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (National Botanical Garden, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; February 2, 2015.) © Knut Hansen
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (La Romana, Dominican Republic; February 2013.) © Luis Sitges
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; February 10, 2018.) © Francisco Alba Suriel
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Punta Cana Ecological Reserve, Dominican Republic; March 7, 2016.) © Hank Davis
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; January 26, 2015.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; August 31, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. © Jim Tietz
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Lomas Lindas, Dominican Republic; April 29, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; June 15, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; December 25, 2015.) © magloor
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male with crest raised. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; March 28, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; June 15, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female at nest. (Dominican Republic; January 21, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. © Jim Tietz
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; October 30, 2008.) © tinyfishy
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; February 27, 2016.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; February 27, 2016.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; July 7, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, male. (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; February 27, 2016.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; May 15, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, female. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; May 15, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Notes
Monotypic species.
References
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed June 20, 2019.)
Gorman, G. 2014. Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide. Firefly Books, London.
Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland, and E. Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.