---
title: "Witte specht"
description: "Melanerpes candidus — Vogels. The white woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) is a South American species of woodpecker (family Picidae) native to the wooded grasslands of Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/white-woodpecker
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Witte specht

> Melanerpes candidus — Vogels. The white woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) is a South American species of woodpecker (family Picidae) native to the wooded grasslands of Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

- Scientific name: *Melanerpes candidus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `grassland` (Weiden en velden), `savanna` (Savanne)
- iNaturalist observations: 3107
- Wikidata: [Q583898](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q583898)
- iNaturalist taxon: [18183](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/18183)

## Names

- en: White Woodpecker
- de: Weißspecht
- es: Carpintero blanco
- fr: Pic dominicain
- nl: Witte specht
- pt: Pica-pau-branco
- pl: Dzięciur biały

## Countries with the most observations

BR (1773), AR (974), UY (111), BO (107), PY (42)

## Summary

The white woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) is a South American species of woodpecker (family Picidae) native to the wooded grasslands of Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. It is a bright white bird with black wings and a distinctive small bright yellow eye patch. The IUCN has rated it as a "least-concern species".

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_woodpecker

## Photo

![Witte specht](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/white-woodpecker/medium.jpg)

Photo: Francisco Liguori · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/51800812

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/white-woodpecker?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).