Black-backed Woodpecker
Picoides arcticus
Dark woodpecker, inconspicuous and uncommon. Found in coniferous forests, often in recently burned areas or bogs with many dead trees. Distinctive habit of flaking bark off trees in search of grubs; behavior shared only with American Three-toed Woodpecker. Back entirely glossy black with faint white markings only on flight feathers. Head mostly black with white mustache stripe and throat. Barred flanks. Males show yellow cap; sexes otherwise alike. "Pick" call is short and has unique clicking tone unlike other woodpeckers. Drum is slow, speeding up at end. Does not visit bird feeders.
Identification
The plumage of adults is black on the head, back, wings and rump. They are white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Their tail is black with white outer feathers. There is an element of sexual dimorphism in the plumage, with the adult male possessing a yellow cap. Unlike all other woodpeckers except the related American and Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers, this species has three-toed feet.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
The black-backed woodpecker was described and illustrated by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1832 from a specimen collected near the source of the Athabasca River on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. He coined the binomial name Picus arcticus. The specific epithet arcticus is the Latin word for "northern" or "arctic". The black-backed woodpecker is now placed in the genus Picoides which was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Picoides arcticus
- Authority
- (Swainson, 1832)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Picoides
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yellow-billed Teal
Anas flavirostris
Widespread and often common small duck of wetlands, lakes, river mouths, Andean bogs, and streams. Rather small and compact with a dark head, a bright yellow bill (duller for a short while on young birds), and plain grayish sides. The similar Yellow-billed Pintail is larger and more elegant with a paler head and mottled sides. Teal populations in the high Andes (“Altiplano Teal”) have noticeably paler gray sides than southern lowlands birds (“Austral Teal”).
Black-winged Cuckooshrike
Lalage melaschistos
An overall sooty-colored cuckooshrike with broad white tips to the tail feathers. Male is dark sooty-gray with a slaty sheen, slightly paler on rump. Underparts paler toward tail; wings black. Female is very similar to male, but paler in general, often weakly barred with dark and pale gray on underparts. Male has a black mask, while female has dark lores and a faint eyering. Juvenile is blackish-brown above and brownish-gray below, heavily scaled whitish all over, with broad white tips on wing feathers. Immature like female, but more strongly and extensively barred below. Song is a loud series of whistles “pe-pe-pe-peew-peew-pew”; sometimes the starting notes are skipped. Found in all types of woodlands, including broad-leaved forests, sometimes even near cultivation during non-breeding season.
Speckled Mourner
Laniocera rufescens
Scarce inhabitant of humid evergreen forest in tropical lowlands, where lives mainly at middle levels in shady understory. Often perches still and rather upright for long periods, sallying out occasionally for fruit and small invertebrates. Plumage rusty overall with paler eyering, darker wings marked with big rusty spots, and faint dusky scaling on breast. Yellow shoulder tufts usually concealed, but shown when excited. Much commoner Rufous Mourner similar but plainer and sleeker.
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