Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Picoides scalaris Order: PASSERIFORMES Family: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Breeding Male Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

Ladder-backed Woodpecker Variations:

Recommended Products:

General

Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Small woodpecker with black-and-white barred upperparts, shoulders, and wings, buff-gray underparts with black spots, buff-gray face, red crown, and black forehead, nape, rump, and tail. Female lacks red crown.

Range and Habitat

Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Breeds from southwestern U.S. south to British Honduras. Found in wooded canyons, cottonwood groves, pine and pine oak woodlands, desert scrub, and desert grasslands dominated by mesquite.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"pik"

Interesting Facts

 The Ladder-backed Woodpecker was first described in 1829 by Johann Georg Wagler, a German herpetologist.

 Although it is restricted to desert and arid environments in the United States, it is found in pinelands in Central America.

 This woodpecker was once called the Cactus Woodpecker.

 A group of woodpeckers has many collective nouns, including a "descent", "drumming", and "gatling" of woodpeckers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Related Birds

Downy Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Arizona Woodpecker
.
Family Woodpecker (Picidae)_blue
Species Picoides scalaris
Length6 - 7.25 Inches
Wingspan11.5 Inches

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Small woodpecker with black-and-white barred upperparts, shoulders, and wings, underparts are buff-gray with black spots, buff-gray face, red crown, and black forehead, nape, rump, and tail. Outer tail feathers are white barred. Bill, legs and feet are black.

● Song: "pik"

● Foraging & Feeding: Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Eats insects and cactus fruit; forages on tree trunks, limbs, and sometimes on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Two to seven white eggs are laid in a cavity nest made of bark chips, usually 3 to 30 feet above the ground in a dead tree or branch. Eggs are incubated for 13 days by both parents.

● Similar species: Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Nuttall's Woodpecker has black ear patches bordered by white, cleaner white breast, and fewer spots on flanks. Downy and Hairy woodpeckers have solid white backs and lack spots on breasts and flanks.

Flight Pattern

Series of rapid shallow wing beats alternating with short glides.
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Breeds from southwestern U.S. south to British Honduras. Found in wooded canyons, cottonwood groves, pine and pine oak woodlands, desert scrub, and desert grasslands dominated by mesquite.
BreedingMonogamous
Population
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight1.1 Ounces