Description wikipedia

The Andean flicker (Colaptes rupicola) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. == Taxonomy and systematics == The Andean flicker was for a time placed in genus Soroplex that was later merged into Colaptes. It and the Chilean flicker (C. pitius) are sister species. The American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee, and the Clements taxonomy assign three subspecies to the Andean flicker: the nominate C. r. rupicola (D'Orbigny, 1840), C. r. cinereicapillus (Reichenbach, 1854), and C. r. puna (Cabanis, 1883). Both C. r. cinereicapillus and C. r. puna have at one time been treated as separate species. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World includes puna with the nominate as the "southern Andean flicker" and treats cinereicapillus as the separate species "northern Andean flicker". This article follows the three-subspecies model. == Description == The Andean flicker is about 32 cm (13 in) long. Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Adult males of the nominate subspecies are dark slate gray from forehead to hindneck; the last occasionally has a hint of red. Their face, chin, and throat are pale buffy white with a thin black malar stripe with red tips on the feathers. Adult females have an all-black malar stripe and never any red on the hindneck. Both sexes' upperparts are barred with brown, light brown, and buffy white; their uppertail coverts are white with narrow dark bars. Their flight feathers are dark brown with narrow pale buff bars. The top side of their tail is black; the central and outermost feathers have thin paler bars. Their tail's underside is dark brown with sometimes yellowish on the outer edge. Their underparts are whitish with a variable orange-buff wash on the breast and small blackish marks there and sometimes on the flanks. Their long bill is black, their iris lemon yellow, and the legs yellowish gray, greenish, or grayish pink. Juveniles are duller than adults but with pale blue or reddish brown eyes, and they have buff tips on the rear crown feathers and bar-like rather than spotted underparts. Males usually have some red on their nape. Subspecies C. r. puna is similar to the nominate but is darker both above and below. The markings on its breast are larger, the tail usually less barred, and the legs dull greenish. The female's malar stripe often is indistinct and both sexes have a dark red patch on their hindneck. Subspecies C. r. cinereicapillus is significantly different from the nominate. Its face, throat, and breast are rich tan-buff, the belly and rump yellow-buff, and the breast has black bars rather than spots. It has no red on its nape and the red tips on its malar feathers are only on the back few rather than on all of them.