Piculus aurulentus (Temminck, 1821)

Size Measurements

The yellow-browed woodpecker (Piculus aurulentus) measures 21 to 22 cm (8.3 to 8.7 in) in length and weighs 22 to 68 g (0.78 to 2.4 oz).

Sexual Dimorphism Overview

Males and females have identical plumage except for the coloration of their heads.

Male Head Plumage

Males have red coloring from the forehead to the nape, a narrow yellowish white supercilium, and dark olive green coloring around the eye extending onto the side of the neck. Below these features, males have a pale yellow stripe followed by a red malar band. Their chin and throat are pale golden.

Female Head Plumage

Females have an olive-colored forehead and crown, and much less red coloring on the malar.

Adult Upperparts Plumage

Adult yellow-browed woodpeckers have olive green upperparts. Their flight feathers are dark brown with greenish edges, and have dark cinnamon-rufous coloring on the inner webs. Their tail is blackish.

Adult Underparts Plumage

Their underparts are whitish with wide dark olive bars.

Adult Bare Part Features

Their medium-length beak is blackish gray with a paler base on the lower mandible, their iris is chestnut-brown, and their legs are greenish gray.

Juvenile Plumage

Juveniles are generally duller in color than adults, and have less well-defined barring on their underparts.

Species Distribution Range

The yellow-browed woodpecker ranges from São Paulo state in Brazil southward through eastern Paraguay and northern Uruguay to northeastern Argentina.

Habitat Preferences

It lives in the interior and edges of humid mature montane forest, dense secondary forest and woodland, and humid lowland forest.

Elevation Range

In Brazil, it occurs at elevations between 750 and 2,000 m (2,500 and 6,600 ft), and is generally found at lower elevations in the other countries it inhabits.