Hispaniolan Woodpecker

The Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Melanerpes striatus, is a medium sized woodpecker endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

Their back is covered in yellow and black stripes. Males have a dark red stripe from their forehead to their neck while females the red stripe extends from the nape to the neck only. Their tail base is brilliantly red while the tail itself is black. The rump is olive-grey.

Unlike most woodpeckers the Hispaniolan Woodpecker is a social species that takes advantage of having a large number of individual adult birds in the colony to protect a nesting bank or tree.

Their habitat, which is restricted to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, extends from the coasts, over the deserts to the mountains of the island.