Species: Picoides arcticus

Black-backed Woodpecker

Species

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Species of concern in the Puget Sound watershed

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

call in association with a hunched wing-spreading display (Short 1974). Drumming is variable (fast or slow) in long, even rolls (Farrand 1983; Goggans 1989). Drumming described as coming in 2-second bursts that taper off at end, at intervals of 30-40 seconds, suggestive of pileated woodpeckers (DRYOCOPUS PILEATUS); also gives single raps when nervous or about to roost (Kilham 1966). See Short (1974) and Anonymous (1992) for descriptions of calls and drumming.

Articles:

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)

August 01, 2013

This article was originally published by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of its annual report Threatened and Endangered Wildlife in Washington.

Black-backed woodpecker (photo by Joe Higbee).

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Piciformes

Family

Picidae

Genus

Picoides

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102076

Classification

Other Global Common Names

pic à dos noir

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Piciformes - Picidae - Picoides

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A bird (woodpecker).

Migration

true - false - false - A resident species. Seasonal movements unstudied, but birds apparently move in response to local increases in food availability.

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Bulk of diet is wood-boring beetle larvae (including MONOCHAMUS spp. and Englemann spruce beetle, DENDROCTONUS ENGELMANNI), but also feeds on other insects (e.g., weevils, beetles, spiders, ants); occasionally eats fruits, nuts, sap, and cambium (Wickman 1965 and Baldwin 1960, cited in Bull et al. 1986; Short 1974; Scott et al. 1977; Terres 1980). Woodpeckers may be attracted by the clearly audible chewings of wood-boring insects in recent burns (Taylor and Barmore 1980). Obtains food by flaking bark from trees (usually dead conifers) and logs, sometimes by picking gleaning. Feeds primarily on logs and low on large-diameter tree trunks (more than 7.5 centimeter dbh; but most often 15-25 centimeter dbh; Short 1974, Villard 1994). Females feed young more often than males, but carry less food in each visit; although males visit less often they come with more food, and perhaps supply 50 percent to 75 percent of food to nestlings (Short 1974, Kilham 1983).

Reproduction Comments

Nests in late spring and early summer. Pair bonding and courtship begin in April, excavates nest in early May (Goggans 1989; NSMNH 1999). Clutch size is two to six (usually four). Incubation, by both sexes, may last 12-14 days. Young are altricial, tended by both parents, fledge in about 25 days (Ehrlich et al. 1988). In Oregon, success rate for 19 nests was 63 percent (Goggans et al. 1989).

Ecology Comments

Intraspecifically territorial. In Oregon, home range size for three individuals was 72, 124, and 328 hectares; small home range size was associated with abundant mature/old growth timber (Goggans et al. 1988). In the Sierra Nevada, California, densities estimated at 0.2 pairs per 40 hectares (Raphael and White 1984). In northeastern and north-central forests, territory size estimated at 30 hectares and maximum density 3.3 pairs per 100 hectares (Evans and Conner 1979). In Idaho, home range of one male in breeding season 72 hectares (Dixon and Saab 2000). In Vermont, home range size reported to be 61 hectares (Lisi 1988). See Short (1982) for a detailed description of habits, calls, and behavior. Highly responsive to forest fire and other processes, such as spruce budworm outbreaks, that result in high concentrations of wood-boring insects invading dead trees. Local and regional irruptions and range extensions have been observed in response to burns and wood-borer outbreaks (West and Spiers 1959, Bock and Bock 1974, Kingery 1977, Yunick 1985).

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-12-02

Global Status Last Changed

1996-12-02

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

RESIDENT: often locally, from western and central Alaska to northern Saskatchewan and central Labrador, south to southeastern British Columbia, central California, northwestern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota, central Saskatchewan, northern Minnesota, southeastern Ontario, and northern New England (AOU 1983). Wanders irregularly south in winter.

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102076