Lewis's Woodpecker
Melanerpes lewis
A large, social woodpecker with a unique color pattern. Dark glossy-green above with a gray collar, dark red face, and pink wash on the belly. Sexes alike; juveniles are duller and browner than adults. Looks all dark at a distance, with a crowlike flight style. Found in open woodlands, sometimes close to human settlements. Often uses telephone poles to stash acorns; also sallies out from a conspicuous perch to catch insects.
Identification
One of the largest species of American woodpeckers, Lewis's woodpecker can measure up to 10–11 inches (25–28 cm) in length. It is mainly reddish-breasted, blackish-green in color with a black rump. It has a gray collar and upper breast, with a pinkish belly, and a red face. The wings are much broader than those of other woodpeckers, and it flies at a much more sluggish pace with slow, but even flaps similar to those of a crow. Its calls have a harsh sound relative to other woodpeckers', and it may use a repertoire of several different phrases. They are one of the three largest Melanerpes woodpeckers, being similar in size to the white woodpecker and the Jamaican woodpecker.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
Lewis's woodpecker was described and illustrated in 1811 by the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson in his American Ornithology; or, the Natural History of the Birds of the United States. Wilson based his description on some bird skins that had been collected on an expedition across the western portion of the United States led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1803–1806. Wilson coined the English name "Lewis's woodpecker" and the binomial name Picus torquatus. Unfortunately, the specific epithet was preoccupied by the ringed woodpecker, Celeus torquatus (Boddaert, 1783) and so in 1849 the English zoologist George Robert Gray coined a new name Picus lewis. The type locality is Montana. Lewis's woodpecker is now placed in the genus Melanerpes that was erected by the English ornithologist William John Swainson in 1832. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes lewis
- Authority
- (Gray, GR, 1849)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
Range and habitat
Lewis's woodpecker is locally common, dwelling mostly in open pine woodlands, and other areas with scattered trees and snags. Unlike other American woodpeckers, it enjoys sitting in the open as opposed to sitting in heavy tree cover. It ranges mostly in the western to central United States, but can winter as far south as the US border with Mexico and summer as far north as Canada. It has been seen in five Midwestern states: South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
- Breeding range
- NA : sw Canada to sw USA
- Non-breeding range
- to n Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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