Golden-fronted Woodpecker Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesGolden-fronted Woodpecker
Male (Northern)
Barred black-and-white woodpecker with a tan breast. Males have a yellow spot in front of the eyes, a red crown, and a yellow-orange nape.
© Darren Clark / Macaulay LibraryTexas, March 02, 2020Female (Northern)
Barred black-and-white woodpecker with a tan breast. The lower belly is yellow on northern birds, including the ones that occur in the United States. Females have a yellow patch in front of the eye and a yellow nape.
© Bryan Calk / Macaulay LibraryTexas, May 13, 2020Adult female and male (Northern)
Both sexes care for the young. Here, the female brings a moth and waits for the male to leave before entering the nest hole.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 29, 1998Male (Velasquez's)
Nape color varies across its range from yellow-orange in the north, to red in Yucatán, to orange from Chiapas, Mexico, to Honduras. The lower belly color varies across the range; birds in the Yucatán have red lower bellies.
© Ian Davies / Macaulay LibraryQuintana Roo, February 04, 2014Female (Velasquez's)
Individuals in the Yucatán have red napes and red lower bellies.
© Emily Turteltaub Nelson / Macaulay LibraryYucatán, May 10, 2016Male (Northern)
Eats cactus fruits as well as fruit at bird feeders.
© Becca Engdahl / Macaulay LibraryTexas, March 17, 2017Male (Northern)
Shows white rump, pale back, and white spots in wings.
© Lawrence Haller / Macaulay LibraryTexas, July 07, 2017Male (Northern)
Found in open to semiopen woodlands, second-growth forests, and brushlands.
© Michelle Cano 🦜 / Macaulay LibraryTexas, February 19, 2017Similar SpeciesGila Woodpecker
Male
Gila Woodpeckers have a tan nape while Golden-fronted have a yellow-orange nape. In flight the rump patch is barred on Gila, but white on Golden-fronted.
© Thomas Anderson / Macaulay LibraryArizona, February 23, 2017Similar SpeciesGilded Flicker
Female
Female Gilded Flickers have browner backs and a tan (not yellow-orange) crown and nape.
© Glenn Kincaid / Macaulay LibraryArizona, December 22, 2015Similar SpeciesGilded Flicker
Male
Gilded Flickers have a spotted belly and black chest patch that Golden-fronted Woodpeckers lack. In flight, underwings flash yellow, which is not seen on Golden-fronted.
© David Hollie / Macaulay LibraryArizona, June 05, 2015Similar SpeciesNorthern Flicker
Male (Red-shafted)
Northern Flickers have a spotted belly and black chest patch that Golden-fronted Woodpeckers lack. In flight, underwings flash red, which is not seen on Golden-fronted.
© Matt Davis / Macaulay LibraryNevada, October 08, 2015Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Woodpeckers(Order: Piciformes, Family: Picidae)
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