The golden-olive woodpecker (Colaptes rubiginosus) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Mexico south and east through Panama, in every mainland South American country except Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and in Trinidad and Tobago. Taxonomy and systematics The golden-olive woodpecker was originally described as the "brown woodpecker" (Picus rubiginosus). It was later placed in genus Piculus but since about 2007 has been moved into Colaptes by taxonomic systems. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign these 18 subspecies to the golden-olive woodpecker: C. r. yucatanensis (Cabot, S., 1844) C. r. alleni (Bangs, 1902) C. r. buenavistae (Chapman, 1915) C. r. meridensis (Ridgway, 1911) C. r. rubiginosus (Swainson, 1820) C. r. deltanus (Aveledo & Ginés, 1953) C. r. paraquensis (Phelps, W.H. & Phelps, W.H. Jr., 1948) C. r. guianae (Hellmayr, 1918) C. r. viridissimus (Chapman, 1939) C. r. nigriceps (Blake, 1941) C. r. trinitatis (Ridgway, 1911) C. r. tobagensis (Ridgway, 1911) C. r. gularis (Hargitt, 1889) C. r. rubripileus (Salvadori & Festa, 1900) C. r. coloratus (Chapman, 1923) C. r. chrysogaster (Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1902) (At one time treated as a separate species) C. r. canipileus (d'Orbigny, 1840) C. r. tucumanus (Cabanis, 1883) The American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy add C. r. aeruginosus which IOC and HBW treat as a separate species, the bronze-winged woodpecker. Further splittings of these subspecies have been proposed at various times but each is currently (2023) considered synonymous with a member of this list. According to some authors, the golden-olive woodpecker sensu lato and the grey-crowned woodpecker (C. auricularis) form a superspecies. However, research since 2010 has found that the golden-olive C. rubiginosus is not monophyletic, with some subspecies being more closely related to the grey-crowned woodpecker and others more closely related to the black-necked woodpecker (C. atricollis) than they are to other golden-olive subspecies. The specific epithet rubiginosus means "full of rust", describing the color of the bird's wings and back. This article follows the 18-subspecies IOC/HBW model. Description The golden-olive woodpecker is long. Males and females have the same plumage except on their heads. Adult males of the nominate subspecies C. r. rubiginosus have a slate gray forehead and crown with a red border and nape. They are pale buff to whitish from their lores around the eye to the red of the