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Dot-fronted Woodpecker Dryobates frontalis Scientific name definitions

Hans Winkler and David Christie
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2002

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

Male and female Dot-fronted Woodpeckers both have white spotting on the forehead. Very little ecological information is known about these birds. They live on Andean slopes in dry woodlands, transitional forests, and humid forests. During the non-breeding season, some individuals move to lower elevations. Dot-fronted Woodpeckers forage close to the ground on trunks and small branches, but their diet has not yet been determined.

Field Identification

c. 16 cm; 30–40 g. Male has olive to grey-brown forehead heavily spotted with white, red forecrown to nape with extensive dark grey feather bases showing through, yellowish-olive hindneck; long thin white supercilium, thin white line from lores, one or both often partly obscured by darker spots; rest of head olive-brown, ear-coverts streaked buffish, neck side and chin barred pale; yellowish-olive upperparts barred and streaked pale and with golden feather tips (markings much less obvious in worn plumage), median wing-coverts and outer scapulars with pale wedge-shaped spots, greater coverts with narrow pale central streaks; brown flight-feathers broadly edged yellow-green, narrowly pale-barred on inner webs; uppertail dark brown with thin whitish bars (bars less distinct on central feathers), all suffused yellow; olive-grey underparts all narrowly barred whitish, underwing barred dusky and pale; fairly long bill straight, broad across nostrils, slate-grey to blackish, paler lower mandible; iris dark brown; legs dark grey. Differs from V. passerinus in larger size, facial stripes (also present in some races of latter), stronger markings above, barred tail. Female has crown to nape olive-brown with white spots. Juvenile duller and greyer than adult, both sexes with red crown patch, smaller on female.

Systematics History

Member of the V. passerinus clade (see above). Sometimes hybridizes with V. passerinus, and occasionally considered conspecific. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Andes from Bolivia (Cochabamba, W Santa Cruz) S to NW Argentina (S to Tucumán).

Habitat

Dry montane woodland and transitional and humid forest of Andean slopes; to 2000 m, generally lower.

Movement

Some downslope movements occur outside breeding season.

Diet and Foraging

Diet not described. Often forages at low levels, near ground, on trunks and smaller branches.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Similar to that of V. spilogaster: makes series of 8–10 “juíc!” or “jíc!” calls, or a rather harsh “wík!”. Also utters similar cries as isolated individual calls.

Breeding

Very few data. Active nest in mid-Nov in Argentina; juveniles recorded in Sept and Oct. Single known nest c. 8 m above ground in cavity in dead tree; male apparently incubating. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Generally rather uncommon. In Argentina, occurs in El Rey National Park and fairly common in Calilegua National Park. Very poorly known species; research required on its ecology and reproduction.
Distribution of the Dot-fronted Woodpecker - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Dot-fronted Woodpecker

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Winkler, H. and D. A. Christie (2020). Dot-fronted Woodpecker (Dryobates frontalis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.dofwoo1.01
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