The name Woodpecker comes from the habit of drilling holes into wood and tapping tree trunks to catch insects. Woodpeckers are members of the Picidae bird family, which includes more than 300 species (Brittingham, 2022). Melanerpes radiolatus, often known as the Jamaican Woodpecker, is one of the most common birds in the Caribbean. There are other species that include Colaptes rubiginosus in Trinidad and Tobago, Melanerpes striatus in Haiti, Melanerpes superciliaris in the Bahamas, and Melanerpes radiolatus in Cuba.
The Jamaican Woodpecker’s length ranges from 24 cm to 26 cm and weight varies between 92g and 130g (Jamaican Woodpecker Melanerpes radiolatus, 2022). Males are usually distinguished by their red nape and crown, while females have red on the nape and hindcrown, and a grey forecrown (Jamaican Woodpecker, 2022). In addition, Woodpeckers are prevalent in all of Jamaica’s forested areas, including the lowlands, mountains, and urban and rural gardens, as well as lowland plantations with mangroves, coffee, coconuts, and tree farms (Jamaican Woodpecker Melanerpes Radiolatus, 2022).
Jamaican Woodpeckers tend to spend most of their lives perched on trees, pecking wood and chiseling bark to find food, build roosts and nests, defend territories, and find partners (The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, 2022; Batzner Pest Control, 2019). These birds eat insects, snails, lizards, fruits, vines, bromeliads, nectar, and nectar (Jamaican Woodpecker Melanerpes Radiolatus, 2022). Sadly, there are threats to the Woodpecker’s existence resulting from human activity which destroys their habitat It should be noted that Woodpeckers are important in that they provide food and shelter to several other species, hence their slow disappearance affects the sustainability of the ecosystem (Ross & Amirault, 2020). Furthermore, Woodpeckers are key to controlling wood-boring insects, which pose a threat to many forest ecosystems.
References
Batzner Pest Control. (2019). Why Woodpeckers Peck and how to prevent them from pecking your house. Batzner Pest Control. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://www.batzner.com/resources/blog-posts/why-woodpeckers-peck-and-prevent-them-from-pecking-your-house/#:~:text=They%20peck%20at%20wood%20to,substantial%20damage%20if%20not%20deterred.
Brittingham, M. C. (2022, June 11). Woodpeckers. Penn State Extension. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://extension.psu.edu/woodpeckers
bRoss, & Amirault, J. (2020, February 9). Woodpeckers: A North American Keystone Species. Woodland Woman. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from https://woodlandwoman.ca/woodpeckers-keystone/
Jamaican Woodpecker Melanerpes radiolatus. Jamaican woodpecker. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-jamaican-woodpecker.html
Jamaican woodpecker. birdfindinginfo. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://birdfinding.info/jamaican-woodpecker/
“Woodpeckers .” The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. . Retrieved June 10, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/woodpeckers-0.
Article by Nicolette Wright
Photos by Ian Boxill
