Campo Flicker

The Campo Flicker takes its name from the open campo grasslands of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina where it is common. Like other terrestrial flickers, it walks across open ground hunting for ants rather than clinging to bark.

Its bold facial pattern - a whitish face set against dark crown and black bib - combined with heavy black-and-buff barring across the back, makes it one of the more strikingly patterned flickers in its range.

• Back and wings: heavy black bars over a buffy-tan ground, giving a strongly barred look at rest and in flight
• Face: pale whitish, contrasting with a darker crown
• Chest: solid black patch below the throat, a shared flicker family trait
• Underparts: buffy with dark spotting or barring
• Vs. Green-barred Woodpecker: Campo Flicker shows a paler, whiter face and more open barring, versus the olive-green tone of Green-barred Woodpecker's back

Males typically show a red malar stripe or nape mark that females lack, while both sexes share the same barred back and pale face. Juveniles are duller with looser barring. The species undergoes a single complete molt annually outside the breeding season.

Common across open grassland, pasture, and scattered-tree savanna in central South America, from southern Brazil through Uruguay, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. It is a non-migratory resident, sometimes found near termite mounds which it also uses for nesting.

Forages mainly on open ground, walking with an upright stance while probing for ants and other ground insects, and often perches on fence posts or low mounds rather than tree trunks. It nests in cavities excavated in dead trees, fence posts, or large termite mounds. Calls include loud, repeated chattering notes given both perched and in flight.