 Forest loss and fragmentation are affecting the temperate forests of southern South America at an increasing rate, so these practices also represent a threat for the Magellanic woodpecker.The distribution of the species has contracted and was fragmented as a consequence of native forest clearance, especially in south-central Chile, where the species now is restricted to protected and relict areas.Changes in structural forest components after timber extraction, forest conversion to exotic plantations, and fragmentation due to forest clearance are the main threats to their populations.