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;Picoides scalaris | ;Picoides scalaris | ||
| − | [[Image:Ladder-backed_Woodpecker.jpg|thumb| | + | [[Image:Ladder-backed_Woodpecker.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by Fulmar]] |
==Identification== | ==Identification== | ||
Photo taken in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, Morongo Valley, San Bernardino County, California, USA | Photo taken in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, Morongo Valley, San Bernardino County, California, USA | ||
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| + | The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is a small woodpecker about 16.5 to 19 cm (6½ to 7½ inches) in length. It is primarily colored black and white, with a barred pattern on its back and wings resembling the rungs of a ladder. Its rump is speckled with black, as are its cream-colored underparts on the breast and flanks. Southern populations have duskier buff breasts and distinctly smaller bills. Adult males have a red crown patch that is smaller in immatures and lacking in adult females. The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is very similar in appearance to Nuttall's Woodpecker, but has much less black on its head and upper back, and the range of the two species only intersects a minimal amount in southern California and northern Baja California. Hybrids are known. | ||
| + | ==Distribution== | ||
| + | The species can be found year-round over the south-western United States (north to extreme southern Nevada and extreme southeastern Colorado), most of Mexico, and locally in Central America as far south as Nicaragua. | ||
| + | ==Taxonomy== | ||
| + | ==Habitat== | ||
| + | The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is fairly common in dry brushy areas and thickets and has a rather large range. | ||
| + | ==Behaviour== | ||
| + | Ladder-backed Woodpeckers nest in cavities excavated from tree trunks, or in more arid environments a large cactus will do. The female lays between 2 and 7 eggs, which are plain white. The eggs are incubated by both sexes, but the nesting period and other details are unknown. | ||
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| + | Like most other woodpeckers the Ladder-backed Woodpecker bores into tree-trunks with its chisel-like bill to hunt for insects and their larva, but it also feeds on fruit produced by cacti. | ||
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==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
*[http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php?mcats=all&what=allfields&si=Picoides+scalaris View more images of Ladder-backed Woodpecker in the gallery] | *[http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php?mcats=all&what=allfields&si=Picoides+scalaris View more images of Ladder-backed Woodpecker in the gallery] | ||
[[Category:Birds]] | [[Category:Birds]] | ||
Revision as of 14:47, 12 June 2007
- Picoides scalaris
Identification
Photo taken in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, Morongo Valley, San Bernardino County, California, USA
The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is a small woodpecker about 16.5 to 19 cm (6½ to 7½ inches) in length. It is primarily colored black and white, with a barred pattern on its back and wings resembling the rungs of a ladder. Its rump is speckled with black, as are its cream-colored underparts on the breast and flanks. Southern populations have duskier buff breasts and distinctly smaller bills. Adult males have a red crown patch that is smaller in immatures and lacking in adult females. The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is very similar in appearance to Nuttall's Woodpecker, but has much less black on its head and upper back, and the range of the two species only intersects a minimal amount in southern California and northern Baja California. Hybrids are known.
Distribution
The species can be found year-round over the south-western United States (north to extreme southern Nevada and extreme southeastern Colorado), most of Mexico, and locally in Central America as far south as Nicaragua.
Taxonomy
Habitat
The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is fairly common in dry brushy areas and thickets and has a rather large range.
Behaviour
Ladder-backed Woodpeckers nest in cavities excavated from tree trunks, or in more arid environments a large cactus will do. The female lays between 2 and 7 eggs, which are plain white. The eggs are incubated by both sexes, but the nesting period and other details are unknown.
Like most other woodpeckers the Ladder-backed Woodpecker bores into tree-trunks with its chisel-like bill to hunt for insects and their larva, but it also feeds on fruit produced by cacti.
