Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Picoides scalaris

Order PICIFORMES - Family PICIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A small black-and-white woodpecker of the southwestern United States and Mexico that forages and nests in cactus.

Cool Facts

• Although it is restricted to desert and arid environments in the United States, the Ladder-backed Woodpecker is found in pinelands in Central America.

Description

• Size: 16-18 cm (6-7 in)
• Weight: 21-48 g (0.74-1.69 ounces)

• A small black-and-white woodpecker of the southwestern United States and Mexico that forages and nests in cactus.

• Small woodpecker.
• Back and wings barred black and white.
• Head with broad black eye-line and malar stripes that join at the back.
• Broad white line below eye.
• Underparts dirty white, with spots and streaks on sides.
• Tail black, with outermost feathers barred with white.
• Crown black or red, spotted toward front.

Sex Differences

Male with red cap, female with black cap.

Male

Red cap extends from nape to mid-crown, where it turns spotted red and white, with black, white, and red spots on forehead.

Female

Black from nape to forehead. May have white spots or streaks on forehead and crown.

Immature

Juveniles of both sexes have red on crown. Red feathering is less extensive than on adult male.

Similar Species

• Nuttall's Woodpecker male has red on hind crown only. Also has narrower white stripes, especially the stripe below the eye, white nasal feathers, whiter underparts, and outer tail feathers with spots and not complete barring.
• Downy Woodpecker has pure white in the middle of the back, pure white underparts, no white streaking on crown, and the black eye and malar stripes do not join.

Sound

Call note a short "peek." Also a harsh rattle.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southeastern Colorado, east to central Texas, and south through Mexico to Nicaragua.

Habitat

Found in deserts and desert scrub.

Food

Insects and arthropods.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages by gleaning, probing, prying, and tapping; only occasionally excavates.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in cavity in trees and cactus.

Egg Description

White eggs

Clutch Size

4-7 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Young hatch naked and helpless.

Conservation Status

Decline in numbers in Texas.

Other Names

Pic arlequin (French)
Carpintero listado, Carpintero chilillo, Carpintero mexicano (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Lowther, P. 2001. Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris). In The Birds of North America, No. 565. (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.