Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 19. (ca. 1799). Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40. / https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0000-0099/coll0040/
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote, in his 19th Lecture (ca. 1799): "303. Red bellyed Woodpecker. Top of the head & back of the neck red; the upper part of the body black marked with transverse narrow white lines; the belly under parts of the body lightly tinged with red, some feathers of the tail are white & black. Picus carolinus Linn. L'Epreiche, ou Pic varié de la Jamaque Buff. pl. enl. 597. Inhabits Maryland & to the southward. 304. Female, it differs from the male, by having no red on the top of the head, but is a greay colour, with a patch of red on the back of the neck." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "Red bellyed Woodpecker (P. Carolinus) is sometimes found in Pennsyla, and are very common in Maryland." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described this species under the name "Red-bellied Woodpecker / Picus carolinus" in American Ornithology vol. 1 (Pl. 7), where "Peale's Museum No. 1944" was cited (Wilson 1808: 113). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175530#page/139/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175530#page/132/mode/1up (plate)
A mounted specimen of "Picus carolinus (Carolina Wr)" was listed in "A Catalogue of Duplicate Specimens...", May 1822. [unpublished] American Philosophical Society Library (Mss.B.P31).
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Current Scientific Name
Picidae | Melanerpes carolinus
