Two new woodpeckers from Central America

Vol. XXIII, ^pp. 153-156

December

6, 1910

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

TWO NEW WOQDPECKERS FROM CENTRAL ^AMERICA.

BY ^W.

^E.

CLYDE ^TODD.

Ill tlie course of tlic writer's studiesof the neotropical birds in the collection of the

Carnegie Museum, ^two

^heretofore

^unrec- ognized

^{races of the}

genus Melnnerpes have been

discovered,

but pending

^the

examination

of additional

material

their

pub-

lication

has been

_delayed. INIore recent

comparisons having apparently confirmed

^{their validity, it}

has seemed

^{best to}

pub-

lish descriptions ^of the

new forms

in

advance

of

the more

extensive _])aper in

which they were

originally

intended

to

appear. The type specimens have been generously presented

to the

Carnegie Museum by Pomona

College,

Claremont,

^Cali- fornia,

through

^the

courtesy

^of Prof. C. F.

Baker.

Melanerpes

formicivorus albeolus subsp. nov.

BELIZE

WOODPECKER.

Type, No.3l',702,CollectionCarnegie

Museum,

^adultmale; near

Mana-

tee, BritishHonduras, September 21, 1905; ^J. D. Johnson.

Subsprcifi.c chararfers.—^umhAr to _{if. f.} striatipectus Eidgway, but withsides

and

flanks

much

less streaked,

and

throat paler yellow, often nearly white.

Description.—Adn\t male: ^nasal tufts, chin, ^{sides of} head

and

_neck, upper breast, cervix, back, wings,

and

tail black with a metallic green sheen,^lessdecidedonremigesandrectrices, the outer pairof rectriceswith small^distalspots^ofwhite, alargewhite patch ^{at baseof} primaries,

and

the secondaries barred with white on inner webs;

rump,

upper ^tail- coverts, forehead,mastax, throat, breast,

abdomen, and

crissum white, tlie throat

washed

with canary yellow, the breast broadly, the ^sides, flanks

and

cris.sumnarrowly^streakedwithblack; w hole

crown and

^occi- put^red.

Adultfemalesimilar,^liut

crown

black.

Measurementsoftype.— Wing, ¹³⁶

mm.

; tail,82; exposed culmen, ^25;

tarsus, 21.

3G—Proc.Biol. Soc.Wash., Vol.XXiri,1910. (153)

154 Todd —

Tioo Neio

Woodpeckers from

^Central

^America.

Remarks.

— The new

form resembles the

more

southern

M.

_f. striatipec- ius inthecharacter

and

extentofthe breast_striping, butdiffersas afore- said, tlie tliroat being practically white or witii onlj' a _slight tinge ^of canary yellow, while in strintippctHn this color is

more

]-)rononnced

and

constant (irres])ective of season) than in

any

^{other form} of this species.

Compared

^{with M.} f. formicivorus from Tetela del Volcan, Morelos, ]Mexico, assumedto])e typical, the British

Honduras

bird differs further in ])eing

much

lessdistinctlystreakedonthesides

and

_{fianks, giving}ita Avhiter appearance below, ^this character serving ^to separate ^it from ^all the other

known

forms, while the pectoral

band

is less "solid,"

more

extensively^striated.

None

of tiieseriesof birds

examined

fromeastern

Mexico

_approach the present form at all closely, so that it seemswell entitled to recognition. ^I have seen

no

examples from Honduras, but

Guatemala

_specimens

seem

referable to true fnrmic.ivorus^, so that it is

probable^that the present formisconfined tothe coast region ^of British Honduras, possiblyextending northward^intoYucatan.

Melanerpes

pucherani perileucus suljsp.nov.

WHITE-BARRED WOODPECKER.

Type, No._32,703,CollectionCarnegie

Museum,

^adultmale; near

Mana-

tee,BritishHonduras,

December

22, 1905; ^{J. I).} Johnson.

Subspea'ficcliaracters.

—

Similar to Melanerpes pucherani from ^Nicara- gua southward, but with

more

white on the wing-coverts, rectrices, remiges,

and

_back;

and

the

abdominal

red

more

restricted.

Description.

—

Adult male: extreme forehead

cadmium

_yellow;

crown and

_occiputcarmine; postorbital stripe, superciliary stripe, cervix, sides of neck, back, wings,

and

tail jjlack, the back regularly barred with white, the wings (except^lessercoverts) conspicuously spotted externally, barred_internallywithwhite, the outer pairof rectricesimperfectlybarred distallywith bntfy white, the middle _pair broadly^l)arred oninner

webs

with purewhite; ^a white postocular spot;

rump ^and

upper tail-coverts white,

somewhat

spotted and barred with _black; lower_partsolivegray, deepest

on

_breast, whitishoncrissum,

and

barredwith blackon^all _pos- terior portions; middle of

abdomen

_{carmine; lining of}

_wing

mottled black

and

white.

Adultfemale_similar, but

crown

black, bnffywhite

on

anterior middle part.

Measurements of type.

— _Wing,

115

mm.;

^{tail, 01;} exposed culmen, 23.5; tarsus, ^21.

Remarks.

—

_{Zebrapicuspucherani}

was

describedby Malherbe (Revue^et Magasin deZoologie, 1S49, 542)from

"Tabago"

^{(legeTobago),alocality} wherethe_speciesisnot

known

tooccur.

The

laterdescription

and

i)late

by

^the

same

author (^lonograpliie des Picidees, II, 1S()2, 227, PI. 10;*), figs. 1, 2), however, seems^to apply ^{better to the} form inhabiting Nica- ragua,Costa _Rica,

and Panama,

which ^is characterized maiidy l)y the less

amount

ofwhite onthe _Ijack, wings,

and

tail, this color being very prominent^inthe northern _{bird,giving a decidedly} barred effect to the

Todd — _{Two New} Woodpeckers from

^Central

^{America. 155}

upper parts.

The

South

American

l)ird

may

possiblybelong ^{toa third} form, judging from the only skin available (No. 101,21)7,U. S. National

Museum,

Guayaquil, Ecuador),

which may

^be the true pucherani, but in

any

^{case the l)ird} occurring from

Honduras northward

to southern

Mexico

is subspeciticallyseparable.

The

differencesareobviousevenin

young

birds, as

may

^{l)e seen Ijy}

comparing

^{two such} sijecimens ^as Nos.

192,800, U. S. National

Museum,

Carrillo,CostaRica,

and

_112,582,Trux-

illo, Honduras, September 27, 1887, both in fresh juvenal ^dress. Care

must

be taken in

making

comparisons ^{to choose} specimens^inthe

same

state ofplumage, ^forthewhite_spots

and

_edgingswear

away more

^readily than the black areas, as in otherwoodpeckers.

Many

^{of the}

^Mexican

specimens

examined

areinpoorplumage,

and

consequently^{fail to}

show

the distinctivecharactersto the bestadvantage.

The

form under consideration is evidently that which, according ^to

Malherbe

(/. c), had been provisionally designated ^as melanotis by^Dr.

Sclaterin_1857,butthis

name

is, of course, apure

nomen nudum.