Yellow-tufted Woodpecker
Melanerpes cruentatus (Boddaert, 1783)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The yellow-tufted woodpecker (Melanerpes cruentatus) is a species of woodpecker. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.
Wikipedia contributors, Yellow-tufted woodpecker; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:01:27.718814+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes cruentatus (Boddaert, 1783)
- Name authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Common name
- Yellow-tufted Woodpecker
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- subfamilyPicinae
- genusMelanerpes Swainson, 1832
- speciesMelanerpes cruentatus (Boddaert, 1783)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Melanerpes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Golden-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes aurifrons (Wagler, 1829) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes cactorum (d'Orbigny, 1840) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-naped WoodpeckerMelanerpes chrysauchen Salvin, 1870 | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-cheeked WoodpeckerMelanerpes chrysogenys (Vigors, 1839) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes flavifrons (Vieillot, 1818) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Acorn WoodpeckerMelanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lewis' WoodpeckerMelanerpes lewis (G. R. Gray, 1849) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Puerto Rican WoodpeckerMelanerpes portoricensis (Daudin, 1803) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-cheeked WoodpeckerMelanerpes pucherani (Malherbe, 1849) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yucatan WoodpeckerMelanerpes pygmaeus (Ridgway, 1885) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jamaican WoodpeckerMelanerpes radiolatus (Wagler, 1827) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-crowned WoodpeckerMelanerpes rubricapillus (Cabanis, 1862) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=553984 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3Z72D. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.