Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages: Spot-Breasted Woodpecker Natural History

Welcome to the Cuiabá Basin Wildlife Project pages.  These are a series of pages each of which covers the natural history, field biology, habitats and conservation biology ie level of endangerment of wild animal species found in the Cuiabá Basin. The Cuaibá Basin is a unique area that Field Biologist call an ecotone. An ecotone is an area where several habitats come together. In the Cuiabá Basin these include the Pantanal (a wetland), the cerrado (savannah) and gallery forest, a riparian habitat.  Ecotourists and birdwatchers (birders) delight in coming to the area for its wildlife diversity.  That biodiversity has evolved as a result of the habitat diversity arising from this ecotone.

In terms of what one of my old teachers used to call political geography the Cuiabá Basin covers the municipalities of Cuiabá, Varzea Grande, Poconé, Santo Antônio de Leverger and Cangas, all in the state of Mato Grosso in Central Western Brazil.

These pages are inspired by a study on the veterinary aspects of Cuiabá Basin animals that are in-patients at one of the region's veterinary hospitals. I use the world 'inspired' because the veterinary care of these animals appears in a monograph which I am writing as I complete Veterinary School in the region.

I am also a qualified Conservation Biologist, Habitat Manager and Field Biologist.  Whilst the veterinary parameters of these species covered in these pages appears in my monograph, a blog seems the perfect place to write about the conservation biology, field biology and habitat preference of the species under study.

Without further ado, the first entry is on the Spot-Breasted Woodpecker, Colaptes punctigula.  This is a gorgeous bird. The best field guide to use to identiify it is the

• Avis Brasilis Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil, written by Tomas Sigrist and published by Avis Brasilis.

The book gives the habitat as being the 'middlegrowth' layer of forests.  As a Field Biologist my desire is to clarify that.  Perhaps it is what I call the shrub-layer or understorey. The book notes that the species' ethiology is little known.

Version 3.1 of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List states the species as being of least concern and increasing.

The specimen at my vets' school clearly is in good health and has been deposited there by the wildlife authorities for expediency pending release.