Science Snacks: Observations on foraging behaviour of Rufous-headed Woodpecker Celeus spectabilis in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Photo by Oliver Thomas

Paper Title: Observations on foraging behaviour of Rufous-headed Woodpecker Celeus spectabilis in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Micro-podcast: If you would rather listen to the summary, check out episodes of our micro-podcast, Science Snacks, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Paper Summary:

The Rufous-headed Woodpecker, Celeus spectabilis, was previously thought to be a bamboo specialist, but has now been recorded foraging for ants in Cecropia trees – far from any bamboo! The Woodpecker was observed drilling holes into the Cecropia to extract ants which live inside the tree – the first time such behaviour has been documented. This observation of novel foraging behaviour in the poorly-studied Rufous-headed Woodpecker occurred in the Sani Reserve, Ecuador.

Authors: Mangini G, Thomas O

Journal: Cotinga

Year: 2020

Read the full paper

If you would rather listen to the summary, check out episodes of our micro-podcast, Science Snacks, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Opwall’s Science Snacks is where we share our conservation biology knowledge with you, in the form of tasty little snacks! You’ll find summaries of research paper and micro-podcasts about our most exciting tid-bits.