ANONA-EATING WOODPECKER

The anona tree outside my casita door still is bearing sweet fruit, and the neighborhood Golden-fronted Woodpecker, CENTURUS AURIFRONS, has been taking more than his share. You can see him pecking a fruit below:

This isn't the first time a Golden-fronted Woodpecker has revealed his sweet-tooth to me. During my winter, 2005 stay at San Juan Hacienda a bit north of here this bird pecked holes in immature coconuts and caused much damage in orange orchards.

Birders in the eastern US might see little difference between our Golden-fronted Woodpecker and the Red- bellied Woodpecker so common up there. Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, distributed from the southwestern US to El Salvador and Honduras, exhibit various geographical variations in Mexico. Our Yucatan subspecies dubius is distinguished from other subspecies by the very narrow barring on its back and its reddish belly at certain times of the year, the other subspecies sometimes showing yellow bellies. If you compare the above picture with the US's Red-bellied you'll see that the back of ours is darker overall because the black bars across the back are much narrower, more numerous and closer together.