Lewis's Woodpecker

Lewis's Woodpecker

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Conservation Status
6. Other Names

A dark woodpecker of open woodlands, the Lewis's Woodpecker is found westward of the Great Plains. Its slow, deliberate flight reminds one of a crow or jay more than a woodpecker.

Cool Facts

• The Lewis's Woodpecker seldom, if ever, excavates wood for boring insects. Instead, it gleans insects from the tree surface, or most commonly, flycatches. It spends long periods of time watching for flying insects from the top of a pole or dead tree, and then flies out to catch them in flight.

Description

• Size: 26-28 cm (10-11 in)
• Wingspan: 49-52 cm (19-20 in)
• Weight: 88-138 g (3.11-4.87 ounces)

• Medium-sized woodpecker.
• Head, back, wings, and tail greenish black.
• Gray collar and chest.
• Dark red face.
• Belly pinkish or salmon red.
• Wings and tail all dark, without white spots or patches.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but lacking red face and gray collar and chest.

Sound

Call a series of "churs".

Range

Range Map

© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds from southeastern British Columbia southward to central California and New Mexico, eastward to western South Dakota.

Winter Range

Winters in southern portion of breeding range northward to southwestern Oregon, central Utah, and central Colorado.

Conservation Status

Populations declining. On Audubon WatchList.

Other Names

Pic de Lewis (French)
Carpintero de Lewis (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Tobalske, B. W. 1997. Lewis' Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis). In The Birds of North America, No. 284 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.