Pic du Choco vs Pic de Cassin

Veniliornis chocoensis compared with Veniliornis cassini

Key Differences

• Pic du Choco is Near Threatened while Pic de Cassin is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Pic du Choco	Pic de Cassin
Kingdom same	Animalia (animal)	Animalia (animal)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (oiseau)	Aves (oiseau)
Order same	Piciformes (Piciformes)	Piciformes (Piciformes)
Family same	Picidae	Picidae
Genus same	Veniliornis	Veniliornis
Species	Veniliornis chocoensis	Veniliornis cassini

Evolutionary Relationship

Pic du Choco and Pic de Cassin share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Veniliornis.

Conservation Status

Pic du Choco

NT — Near Threatened

Pic de Cassin

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Pic du Choco	Pic de Cassin
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Pic du Choco

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Pic de Cassin

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Pic du Choco

The Choco Woodpecker (Veniliornis chocoensis) is a small to medium-sized woodpecker in the family Picidae, endemic to the humid lowland and foothill forests of the Chocó biogeographic region on the Pacific slopes of Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. It belongs to the genus Veniliornis, a group of small Neotropical woodpeckers characterised by their compact build, relatively short bills, and often barred or spotted plumage combining greens, browns, and reds. The male Choco Woodpecker has a red cap, while the female's crown is dark. Both sexes show strongly barred underparts. It inhabits the interior and edge of humid tropical forest from sea level to around 1,200 metres, where it excavates nesting and roosting cavities in dead or dying trees and forages for wood-boring beetles, ants, and other invertebrates by pecking, chiselling, and probing bark and dead wood. The IUCN classifies the Choco Woodpecker as Near Threatened. Its dependence on intact and mature forest with sufficient dead wood substrate makes it vulnerable to the rapid, ongoing deforestation occurring in the Colombian and Ecuadorian Pacific lowlands and foothills, where large areas of forest have been converted to agriculture and human settlements over recent decades.