Magellanic Woodpecker frugivory and predation on a lizard

OJEDA, V.

WILSON BULLETIN

The Wilson Ornithological Society

Año: 2003 vol. 115 p. 208 - 210

0043-5643

I report observation of fruit consumption by Magellanic Woodpeckers (Campephilus magellanicus) and an opportunistic predation on a lizar (Liolaemus sp.) by an adult male. During normal feeding activities, the woodpecker snatched from a barck crevice of a lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) tree a lizard, which he then beat until stunned or dead, before flying off carrying the reptile. Frugivory, although undocumented for this species, is widespread among picids. Conversely, this apparently first observacion of a Magellanic Woodpecker preying on another vertebrate adds to a few known cases of vertebrate predation by woodpeckers.