West Indian Woodpecker

The West Indian woodpecker is about 27 to 32 cm (11 to 13 in) long and weighs 48 to 126 g (1.7 to 4.4 oz). Individuals on large islands are larger than those on small islands, and males are generally heavier and slightly larger than females. Males and females have the same plumage except for the pattern on their heads. Adult males of the nominate subspecies M. s. superciliaris have a red crown, nape, and hindneck and a black supercilium that extends to the red. Adult females have a whitish crown and the black supercilium entends around to separate the crown from the red nape. On adults of both sexes the rest of the head is white to buffish white. Their upperparts are mostly barred black and buffy or yellowish white, with white uppertail coverts that have a few black marks. Their flight feathers are black with white bars and tips on the primaries and secondaries. Their tail is mostly black with wide white bars on the innermost and outermost pairs of feathers. Their underparts are grayish with a buffy brown to pale yellow-olive tinge on the breast, whitish flanks and undertail coverts with black bars, and a red to orange red patch on the belly. Their iris is red to reddish brown, their bill is black, and their legs and feet are olive. …

The subspecies of West Indian woodpecker are found thus:

M. s. nyeanus, San Salvador and formerly Grand Bahama islands in the Bahamas M. s. blakei, Great and Little Abaco islands in the Bahamas M. s. superciliaris, mainland Cuba and many offshore islands and cays M. s. murceus, Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Pines); Cayo Largo and Cayo Real though possibly extinct there M. s. caymanensis, Grand Cayman island The West Indian woodpecker subspecies on mainland Cuba and Isla de la Juventud inhabit a variety of wooded landscapes, especially those with abundant royal palms (Roystonea regia), at elevations between sea level and 1,000 m (3,300 ft). M. s. nyeanus on San Salvador is almost entirely restricted to coppice of dense broadleaf vegetation with dead sabal palms (Sabal sp.). M. s. caymanensis inhabits most wooded landscapes on Grand Cayman but is most abundant in forest on limestone areas with little soil, where the vegetation is sparse and low. It shuns residential and open areas and mangroves. M. s. blakei inhabits most types of available woodlands on the Abacos and is common in residential areas.

The West Indian woodpecker's diet includes arthropods (mostly insects and spiders), vertebrates such as frogs and lizards, and seeds and fruit of many families. It forages on the ground and at all levels of the vegetation and takes its food by gleaning, pecking, and probing. Both the diet and foraging technique vary somewhat among the subspecies.