The cream-colored woodpecker (Celeus flavus) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Taxonomy and systematics The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) assigns two subspecies to the cream-colored woodpecker, the nominate C. f. flavus (Statius Muller, 1776) and C.f. subflavus (Sclater, P.L. & Salvin, 1877). Until 2014 the IOC had included two more subspecies, C.f. peruvianus (Cory, 1919) and C.f. tectricialis (Hellmayr, 1922) but that year merged them into the nominate. As of early 2023 the Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World retain all four subspecies. The subspecies "intergrade extensively, producing numerous intermediates, and in much of range many individuals [are] impossible to assign to a particular race; geographical limits given are therefore somewhat arbitrary." Because the four subspecies do on average have plumage differences, this article follows the four-subspecies model where data for each exist. Description The cream-colored woodpecker is about long. The nominate subspecies weighs and C.f. subflavus about . All of the subspecies are mostly yellowish with a long crest and a black tail. The "yellowish" varies among individuals from pale creamy yellow to sulfur-yellow and occasionally is cinnamon-white. Adult males have a bright red malar stripe; females have no red. The adult's bill is yellowish, their iris red or red-brown, and their legs dark gray to green-gray. Juveniles resemble adults but are usually buffier or tending to cinnamon-buff. The subspecies differ chiefly in size and the color of their wings. The nominate's flight feathers are brown with much rufous-chestnut and also black tertials. Its wing coverts are usually brown or rufous-brown. Subspecies C.f. peruvianus is slightly larger than the nominate, and its flight feathers replace most of the rufous with brown. Subspecies C.f. tectricialis is about the same size as the nominate, with mostly brown wing coverts and much less rufous in the flight feathers. Subspecies C.f. subflavus is the largest. Much of its body plumage has wide brown bases, its wing coverts have much yellowish, and its flight feathers have no rufous. Distribution and habitat The four subspecies of the cream-colored woodpecker are distributed thus: C. f. flavus, eastern Colombia east in southwestern and northeastern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northeastern Brazil, and south through eastern Ecuador to northern Bolivia, and in western Brazil to Mato Grosso do Sul. C.f. peruvianus,