My First Woodpecker

I’ve now been in the jungle for around 11 weeks with GVI Amazon. I’ve seen everything from spiders, to crickets moulting, to Coral Snakes, to Opossums, to Smoky Jungle Frogs and giant Earthworms. But something was missing; there was a gap that wasn’t filled and I just couldn’t place my finger on what exactly was missing... until today. A bird walk down to the local community of Puerto Rico revealed an array of birds previously unseen to my Australian eyes. Woodpeckers are not present in Australia and after 26 years I had never laid eyes on a single woodpecker.

I had heard their calls numerous times on point count surveys and heard their drumming over the last 11 weeks, but had never, ever seen a single woodpecker. Not only did I see my first woodpecker today, but I saw two in the space of five minutes! The first, the Yellow-tufted Woodpecker (Melanerpes cruentatus) was beautiful, yet spent the entire time hiding behind a tree branch. But it was the Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus melandeucos) that sealed the deal. One of the most spectacular birds I’d ever seen. As the name suggests, his head was an amazing crimson colour with a black body, and two wings. It just goes to show that even after 11 weeks you never know when the next spectacular animal will pop out, out of the blue and surprise you.

Timmy Topper - GVI Amazon volunteer and now scholar, Oct 2010-March 2011

My First Woodpecker