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Emerald Toucanets (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) are one of the small toucans in Costa Rica. They are beautiful to see, and grating to hear - in fact they sound a bit like a cheese grater! They're quite talkative, and usually let you know when they're around. This pair was recorded at the top of Catarata (Waterfall) La Paz, which you can hear in the background.
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Here is a second example of the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) call - this one recorded near the Cabinas el Bosque, Monteverde (Costa Rica), 6/17/99.
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A family of 4 Emerald Toucanets (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) ate and conversed within 20 feet of me on the path behind the Cabinas el Bosque, Monteverde (Costa Rica), 6/17/99. This is a juvenile chattering (whispering) to it's elder. Flight sounds are also Emerald Toucanet.
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Rufous-tailed Jacamars (Brachygalba salmoni) like to hang out in the gallery forests. This one lives along the Sarapiqui River at the El Gavilan lodge in the La Selva area (Costa Rica). They look a bit like a giant hummingbird.
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Here is an example of the Rufous-tailed Jacamar's (Brachygalba salmoni) "song" recorded 1 km from the Arenal Lodge in the creek bottom (Costa Rica), 6/15/99.
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In this recording, a pair of Rufous-tailed Jacamars (Brachygalba salmoni) discuss the coming day early in the morning in the river bottom at El Gavilan, near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui (Costa Rica), 6/20/99.
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Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) This male and female were interacting in a tall tree in Manuel Antonio (Costa Rica). They seemed to talk to each other incessantly the whole time I observed them. They're a noble-looking woodpecker, with their striking red crest and white bill, much like the nearly extinct Ivory Bill (Campephilus principalis).
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This is the sound of Pale-billed Woodpeckers (Campephilus guatemalensis) excavating a nest in Carara (Costa Rica), 11/98.
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Here is an example of the call of a Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), recorded at La Selva (Costa Rica), 6/19/99.
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This is the characteristic (and diagnostic) "double drum" of the Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), usually done every 30 seconds or so. This bird was signalling in the river bottom at El Gavilan, near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui (Costa Rica), 6/20/99.
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A pair of Northern (Red Shafted) Flickers (Colaptes auratus) "dance" with each other in a dead hackberry tree between Tavasci Marsh [Arizona] and Peck's Lake [Arizona]. They were joined by an adolescent later. The male Flicker gives us the loud call, and his wife purrs and coos between calls.
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This Flicker was being chased by a male Merlin which was visiting our area on October 11th, 1997. The Merlin was just inches behind the twisting and turning Flicker, but the Flicker prevailed. The Merlin tried a few more times over a 15 minute period to get a Flicker, but never succeeded. Recorded at Tavasci Marsh [Arizona] 10/10/97.
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In the Spring, the male Flickers are heard calling these long, drawn-out "whinnies" from the tops of trees. This was recorded 4/16/98 at Tavasci Marsh [Arizona]. 03
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Here's an example of the male's drumming and whinny - this one in Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona 4/10/99.
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A Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) drums just above his nest about 10 meters up a dead tree, right at the top of the tree, at El Pizote, near Puerto Viejo de Talamanca (Costa Rica), 6/21/99.
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The largest woodpecker in North America is the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), if you accept that all Ivory Bills have gone to that great hardwood forest in the sky. This pair were recorded near Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in September, 1997. The drumming is on a dead Douglas Fir and was not associated with feeding.
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Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) inhabit Ponderosa Pine/Oak forest in the Western US. They eat many insects and nuts, but show a particular fondness for ants (the name means ant-eater) and acorns. This sample is of a pair talking to one another while foraging around a tall Pine in Big Sur State Park, California.
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Hoffmann's Woodpecker (Melanerpes hoffmannii)-This recording was made at a marsh 10 miles north of Quepos, on the Pacific coast (Costa Rica), while the pair was tending a nest in a dead tree.
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Here is an example of a Hoffmann's Woodpecker (Melanerpes haoffannii) protracted call. This is a female calling from a bare tree behind the Cabinas el Bosque, 6/16/99, Monteverde (Costa Rica). She called like this for several minutes, sitting in one spot near a Brown Jay in the same tree.
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The Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) is one of the most widespread and common woodpeckers in Costa Rica. Compare this woodpecker's call to that of our to our related Gila Woodpecker. Both are from the Melanerpes genus.
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Here is another "churring" call of the Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) in Costa Rica.
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The Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) is the common local woodpecker in Arizona. They hang out in the Cottonwood trees all along the Verde River, and this is their most common call.
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In the Spring the Gila Woodpeckers "whinny" as do many woodpeckers.
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This Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris) is pecking around a large Willow tree at Peck's Lake [Arizona]. I later saw him in a bush of Winterfat, low to the ground, and flushed him unexpectedly like a quail.