Lewis's Woodpecker

Melanerpes lewisOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)

General

Lewis's Woodpecker: Medium-sized woodpecker with black upperparts and hood. Face is red, collar is gray, and belly is pale red. Sexes are similar. Juvenile lacks red face and collar, and has less red on belly.

Range and Habitat

Lewis's Woodpecker: Breeds from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to central California, northern Arizona, and northern New Mexico. Spends winters from southern British Columbia and Oregon to Colorado and south to northern Mexico. Open pine-oak woodlands, oak, or cottonwood groves in grasslands, and ponderosa pine country are preferred habitats.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chee-up", "ick-ick-ick"

Interesting Facts

The Lewis’s Woodpecker was named for Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the USA in the Louisiana Purchase.

It seldom excavates wood for boring insects. Instead, it gleans insects from the tree surface, or most commonly, flycatches.

This species is poorly monitored in many parts of its range, but exhibits a significant long-term decline overall. Populations may have declined by as much as 50 % since 1966.

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

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007 Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
Privacy Policy.

Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Lewis's Woodpecker

Lewis's Woodpecker: Medium woodpecker with black upperparts, hood. Face is dark red, collar is gray, belly is pale red. The bill, legs and feet are black. It was named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Its dark plumage sets it apart from all other North American woodpeckers.

● Song: "chee-up", "ick-ick-ick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Lewis's Woodpecker: About one-third of its diet consists of acorns, which it stores in cracks and bark furrows; also eats insects such as ants, crickets, and grasshoppers, also berries, pine nuts, juniper berries, cherries, and apricots.

● Breeding & nesting: Lewis's Woodpecker: Four to nine white eggs are laid in a cavity in a dead stump or tree limb, often at a considerable height. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Lewis's Woodpecker: None in range.

Flight Pattern

Crowlike flight., Slow deliberate wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Lewis's Woodpecker: Breeds from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to central California, northern Arizona, and northern New Mexico. Spends winters from southern British Columbia and Oregon to Colorado and south to northern Mexico. Open pine-oak woodlands, oak, or cottonwood groves in grasslands, and ponderosa pine country are preferred habitats.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationUncommon to fairly common

^MigrationSome migrate

^Weight4.1 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America