Black-backed Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker, adult male; Placer Co. CA; July.

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Black-backed Woodpecker, adult female; Placer Co., CA. July.

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

An uncommon woodpecker of the northern coniferous forests, the Black-backed Woodpecker prefers burned-over sites. It moves from place to place, following outbreaks of wood-boring beetles in recently burned habitats.

Description

• Medium-sized woodpecker.
• Back entirely black.
• Sides barred black-and-white.
• Throat, chest, and belly white.
• Face black with white and black mustache marks.
• Male with yellow cap.

• Size: 23 cm (9 in)
• Weight: 61-88 g (2.15-3.11 ounces)

Sex Differences

Male with yellow cap, female without.

Sound

Calls a sharp "chek," and a harsh rattle. Drum long, slow, and accelerating.

Conservation Status

Considered a species of special concern in some states. Because of low densities and the ephemeral nature of its preferred habitat, true population estimates difficult to obtain.

Other Names

Pic à dos noir (French)
El pájaro carpintero de espalda negra (Spanish)
Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker, Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker (English)

Cool Facts

• A curious aspect of the Black-backed Woodpecker's distribution is its apparent absence from the central and southern Rocky Mountains. It reaches its southernmost distribution in Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota, while the American Three-toed Woodpecker ranges into isolated mountain ranges of Arizona and New Mexico. On the Pacific Coast, however, the American Three-toed Woodpecker rarely occurs as far southward as southern Oregon, while the Black-backed Woodpecker reaches the Sierra Nevada of central California.
• During the nonbreeding season, individual Black-backed Woodpeckers may move to areas south of the regular breeding range. Movements may be just a few wandering individuals or irruptions involving many birds. Winter records have occurred southward to Iowa, central Illinois, northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware. Irruptions have been attributed to a lack of wood-boring insect prey on their normal range or to overpopulation following an insect outbreak.

Sources used to construct this page:

Dixon R. D., and V. A. Saab. 2000. Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus). In The Birds of North America, No. 509 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.