IDing Woodpeckers by ear (2 Viewers)

[crispycreme]

My ABC field guide lists it as a Strickland's, and my Nat'l Geo guide calls it an Arizona. Some websites refer to it one way, some the other. Cornell's website seems to treat the two as breeds of the same species (although they list both latin names), and Thayer's says this, "Strickland's Woodpecker was also split. The Arizona bird's name was changed to Arizona Woodpecker and the Mexican version is still called Strickland's Woodpecker." They refer to them as 'versions' (Arizona Woodpecker, Ver. 4.3, now with spell check! ). Confuzzling! (sorry to drift off topic)

 

[Dave B Smith]

CC,
This is something else we have to get used to, the never ending changes and the disagreements over species split. For North American birds, the AOU is pretty much the "official" when it comes to checklists (even though they also include comments saying some of their taxonomy is obviously wrong and will be updated when more "research" is done). They show both as separate species so for now you can tick each.

The Sibley-Monroe world list still does not recognise the Arizona Woodpecker, but Ornitaxa lists it as an "incipient" species, ie one that will probably soon be split as a separate species. There is no 100% right or wrong in these classifications, just areas of agreement or disagreement.

 

[dennis]

For Larry and anyone else interested.

My lifelist includes:

Olivaceous Piculet, Ecuador
Lewis' Woodpecker, California
Red-headed Woodpecker, S.Carolina
Acorn Woodpecker, Costa Rica, California
Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Costa Rica
Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Dominican Republic
Hoffman's Woodpecker, Costa Rica
Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Mexico
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pennsylvania
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pennsylvania
Red-breasted Sapsucker, California
Downy Woodpecker, Pennsylvania
Hairy Woodpecker, Pennsylvania
Red-cockaded Woodpecker, S.Carolina
White-headed Woodpecker, California
Three-toed Woodpecker, New Mexico
Black-backed Woodpecker, Pennsylvania
Bar-bellied Woodpecker, Ecuador
Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Mexico
Golden-olive Woodpecker, Ecuador
Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Ecuador
Northern Flicker, Pennsylvania
Lineated Woodpecker, Mexico, Ecuador
Pileated Woodpecker, Pennsylvania
Guayaquil Woodpecker, Ecuador
Green Woodpecker, England

Still like Pileated the best!

dennis

 

[Larry Lade]

I appreciate the responses and the lists given above.

I guess you can learn something everyday! I just thought this thing with the Arizona/Strickland's Woodpecker was a name change for the same bird. Apparently, others (more knowledgeable than I) were also confused (Roger Torey Peterson, David Allen Sibley, et. al.). I guess it makes bird watching more dynamic (you never know if you have seen five species or one specie), viz. Dark-eyed Junco.

Well I have seen the Arizona Woodpecker (called Strickland's when I saw it). But I guess I have not seen the Strickland's, because I have never birded in Mexico. But then again, maybe a Strickland's crossed the border and came up into the states......

Enough to make one pull one's hair out! Er'm..........

Larry

 

[Larry Lade]

I also just checked our own GGBC2 Checklist (which, BTW I consider to be definitive) and it includes both the Arizona Woodpecker and Strickland's Woodpecker.

Bird Forum is a world class organization and therefore for us it should constitute the "highest" authority. So, if ABA, AOU, proposed BBA, et. al. cannot agree let's go with two species.

Larry

 

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Larry,

Strickland's, in the 'strickd' sense, is only found in southern Mexico - Michoacan east to Puebla & Veracruz. It isn't going to turn up in the US!

It differs from Arizona in being jet black where Arizona is dark brown, but with the mantle weakly barred with very narrow whitish bars, and also slightly less heavily spotted on the underside and a slightly shorter bill.

Michael

 

[Larry Lade]

Michael, thanks for the info.
Larry

 

[Wompoo Dove]

Where I was a kid growing up in North Eastern Canada I could literally see all of these within a short walk of my driveway:

Black Backed Woodpecker
Northern 3 toed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow Breasted Sapsucker
Yellow Shafted Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker

What was fun was finding their nests. I was fortunate enough to find all of them nesting. However both 3 toed woodpeckers nests were found a considerable distance from my house.... The others were a short hike only.

 

[Dave B Smith]

Just looking back at this old thread was interesting. What a lot of woodpeckers to choose from and now one more possible to find

My own list of woodpeckers has grown from 12 at the time of the original posts to 26 today. They are:
Red-headed Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker
Red-vented Woodpecker
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Cream-colored Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Chestnut Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Crimson-headed Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Red-rumped Woodpecker
Golden-olive Woodpecker
Spot-breasted Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Scaled Piculet
Black-dotted Piculet
Lineated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker

 

[njlarsen]

I also just got curious, it seems that my tally is 31 woodpeckers. Here is the list with the first observation for each.
Cheers
Niels

F Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla
27 06 001 Bornholm Hammeren DK
20-4-86
F Puerto Rican Woodpecker Melanerpes portoricensis
27 06 037 Guanica: Copamarina PR
30-4-05 2 on a palm excavating a hole
F Red-headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus
27 06 038 Comprehensive list for 1994 from Excel sheet wi
1-10-94
F Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
27 06 039 Point Reyes ca
10-9-90
F Black-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes pucherani
27 06 041 Palenque Ruins Chiapas MX
9-1-00
F Gray-breasted Woodpecker Melanerpes hypopolius
27 06 048 Teotitlan del Valle MX
5-1-00
F Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus
27 06 050 Tobago Speyside to Charlotteville morning TT
28-4-04 2 male and female
F Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
27 06 053 Tehuantepec to Tuxtla G. Chiapas MX
6-1-00 polygrammus
F Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
27 06 054 Comprehensive list for 1994 from Excel sheet wi
1-10-94
F Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius
27 06 057 Madison School Forest wi
9-4-95
F Red-naped Sapsucker Sphyrapicus nuchalis
27 06 058 Joshua Tree NP (incl obs from 29-1-98) ca
28-1-98
F Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber
27 06 059 Yosemite NP ca
13-9-90
F Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor
27 06 094 SJÆLLAND Vaserne DK
15-4-01 1 -2
F Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius
27 06 103 Lac de Der etc 26-11 and 27-11 FR
26-11-91 1
F Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
27 06 105 Fyn ØSTFYN Fynshoved to Knudshoved & Hjulby SØ DK
12-5-85
F Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus
27 06 106 Weiden AT
23-5-99
F Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
27 06 112 Near China Camp shooting area ca
13-9-90
F Nuttall's Woodpecker Picoides nuttallii
27 06 113 Big Morongo ca
20-9-90
F Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
27 06 114 East Lansing Campus mi
24-8-90
F Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
27 06 115 Golden Gate State Recreation Area ca
9-9-90
F Red-cockaded Woodpecker Picoides borealis
27 06 118 Osceaola fl
4-1-95
F White-headed Woodpecker Picoides albolarvatus
27 06 119 Yosemite NP ca
14-9-90
F Black-backed Woodpecker Picoides arcticus
27 06 122 Yosemite NP to Glacier Point ca
14-9-90
F Red-rumped Woodpecker Veniliornis kirkii
27 06 131 Tobago Rainforest trip with Newton George TT
29-4-04 1
F Golden-olive Woodpecker Piculus rubiginosus
27 06 143 Tobago Rainforest trip with Newton George TT
29-4-04 1
F Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
27 06 149 Point Peele on
3-9-90
F Chestnut Woodpecker Celeus elegans
27 06 160 Trinidad Asa Wright Veranda from 11 am TT
24-4-04
F Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus
27 06 167 Trinidad Asa Wright at veranda from 7am TT
25-4-04 1 -2
F Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
27 06 168 Marine County and Muir Woods ca
8-9-90
F Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius
27 06 172 Sydsverige Falsterbo at Nabben + lighthouse SE
19-10-85 1
F Green Woodpecker Picus viridis
27 06 194 Jylland Virklund to 25-6-85 DK
22-6-85 S3 S3

Location codes:
DK Denmark
PR Puerto Rico
wi Wisconsin
ca California
MX Mexico
TT Trinidad and Tobago
FR France
AT Austria
mi Michigan
fl Florida
on Ontario
SE Sweden

 

[StevieEvans]

F Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla
27 06 001 Bornholm Hammeren DK

Where can i find out on internet what this species sounds like...?

SE

 

[Andrew Rowlands]

F Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla
27 06 001 Bornholm Hammeren DK

Where can i find out on internet what this species sounds like...?

SE

Try http://www.birdforum.net/birdsong.php

Andy.

 

[gthang]

Man, lots of woodpeckers!

Here, we get
Red-Bellied
Pileated (not seen yet, my dad has though!)
Downy
Hairy
Northern Flicker
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

According to Sibley Guide, New York is supposed to be home to Red-Headed Woodpeckers as well, but I haven't seen one yet!

And another thing: Doesn't the type of tree a drum is done on matter, because I thought I heard a LOUD drumming... 60 ft away was a Downy...