Chestnut Woodpecker

Celeus elegans 11"

© Photograph courtesy Dr. Russell Barrow

Woodpeckers are facinating birds, more often heard than seen in the forest.
The noise, short bursts of repeated hamering on dead tree trunks, carries far and wide, and it is often frustrating not to be able to see the birds when they seem to be so near.
Cearful scrutiny of this pictures will show a longe prodtruding tongue extending into a hole in the branch as the bird searches for grubs.