Kaempfer's Woodpecker

Kaempfer's woodpecker is 26.5 to 38 cm (10 to 15 in) long and weighs 85 to 105 g (3.0 to 3.7 oz). Both sexes have a rufous-red head with a bushy crest. Adult males have a bright red malar patch and some red behind the eye and onto the crest; females do not have any bright red. Both sexes' hindneck and upperparts are yellow to creamy buff with a few black bars on the mantle and scapulars. Their flight feathers are chestnut to reddish chestnut except the tertials, which are pale yellowish buff with a rufous tinge and a few dark bars. Their tail is black. Their throat and breast are black and the rest of their underparts pale yellowish buff, with usually a few black bars or spots just below the breast. Their bill is pale yellow or creamy, their iris black, and their legs grayish. Juveniles are overall duller, have a mostly chocolate-brown head, a reddish brown crest, and a light buffish mantle with no dark bars.

Between the 1926 collection and 2006, no other individuals of Kaempfer's woodpecker were seen and the bird was feared extinct. In October of 2006 a male was captured during mist netting in the state of Tocantins, about 350 km (220 mi) from the 1926 site. Since then at least 25 individuals have been documented and at least three overlooked specimens have been discovered. The sightings and specimens are scattered throughout an area of about 800,000 km2 (310,000 sq mi) in the northeastern Brazilian states of Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins, Goiás, and Mato Grosso. Little is known about the habitat preference of Kaempfer's woodpecker, but it appears to be associated with bamboo (specifically Guadua paniculata) growing in Cerrado and babassu palm forest.

The diet of Kempfer's woodpecker appears to be mostly ants, especially those like Camponotus depressus and Azteca fasciata which are found in bamboo. It has been noted foraging singly, in pairs, and in family groups. It captures its prey by drilling holes in dry bamboo to access ant nests inside.