Gila Woodpecker
Melanerpes uropygialis
This desert-dwelling woodpecker is plain buffy-brown with black-and-white barring on the back. Adult males have a red crown. No similar species in range. Occurs singly or in pairs, often perched conspicuously atop a cactus. Comfortable in human settlements; frequently visits feeders and backyards in suburban areas. Primarily a Mexican species, occurring extensively across Baja and in the Pacific lowlands south to Jalisco. Limited range in the U.S., mainly in Arizona.
Identification
The back and wings of this bird are spotted and barred with a black and white zebra-like pattern. The neck, throat, belly and head are greyish-tan in color. The male has a small red cap on the top of the head. Females and juveniles are similar, but both lack the red cap of the adult male. White wing patches are prominent in flight. The dark tail has white bars on the central tail feathers. The birds range from 8–10 in (20–25 cm) in length.<p>This woodpecker's voice is a rolling churr sound. It also makes a yip yip yip sound and a kee-u, kee-u, kee-u sound. Its drum is long and steady.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes uropygialis
- Authority
- (Baird, SF, 1854)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
They build nests in holes made in saguaro cacti or mesquite trees. Cavities excavated by these woodpeckers in saguaro cacti (known as a "boot") are later used by a variety of other species, including the elf owl. There, they typically lay 3–4 white eggs, although as many as 6 or 7 have been noted. 2–3 broods are laid a year. Both sexes incubate and feed offspring.<p>As a woodpecker, its diet is composed greatly of insects, which it gains from drilling into bark. Gila woodpeckers are omnivorous, and do take fruits, nectar, seeds, as well as lizards, eggs, worms, and even young chicks of small birds. They are even known to hang on human placed hummingbird feeders and sip up the nectar.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Undulated Antpitta
Grallaria squamigera
Large antpitta of the temperate zone in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Typical antpitta shape: plump with short tail and long legs. Size alone helps separate from most other antpittas, as does boldly scalloped underparts. Often occurs at higher elevations than other antpittas of similar size such as Giant and Great, but plenty of overlap; note Undulated’s slaty gray (not brown) back and dark mustache stripe. Like most antpittas, very difficult to see; occasionally hops along a forest trail, especially in the morning and evening. Listen for its fast, hollow-sounding triling song.
Slender Sheartail
Doricha enicura
Small hummingbird of scrubby forests and overgrown clearings in the mountains of Chiapas and south to southern Honduras. Feeds quietly at all levels and is easily overlooked. Note the long arched bill; distinct from other small hummingbirds in its range. Spectacular male has very long blackish tail (forked, but usually held closed in a point) and green-and-purple throat (usually looks dark). Female is buffy below.
Bamenda Apalis
Apalis bamendae
A slender, plain sooty-gray apalis with red eyes and a buffy-brown forehead and throat. Juvenile is paler than the adult, with a dingy cream belly. Resident, inhabiting canopy and middle levels of both primary and patchy degraded forest between 700 and 2000 meters in mountains and hilly areas in the Bamenda Highlands and Adamawa Plateau of Cameroon, where no similar apalises occur. Vocalizations include a monotonous “dleep-dleep-dleep” and a whip-like 3-noted “tee-twi-dip, tee-twi-dip, tee-twi-dip.”
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