Family Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Least Concern
Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)
Taxonomy
French: Pic à dos noir German: Schwarzrückenspecht Spanish: Pico ártico
Taxonomy:
Picus (Apternus) arcticus
Swainson
, 1832,near the sources of the Athabasca River, eastern slope of the Rockies
.Distribution:
W & C Alaska E through C Canada (N to area W of Great Bear Lake, C Manitoba and N Ontario) to S Labrador and Newfoundland, and S, discontinuously in W, to California and W Nevada (Sierra Nevada), Wyoming, SC Saskatchewan and NE Minnesota, and in E to N Michigan, SE Ontario, New York and Nova Scotia.
Descriptive notes
23–25 cm; 61–88 g. Male has white rear part of nasal tufts, yellow to golden-yellow forecrown, white lores and band running back below ear-coverts to neck side,... read more
Voice
Very distinctive short, high-pitched double click; peculiar, long grating snarl, varying in pitch... read more
Habitat
N and montane coniferous forest, at least locally with strong predilection for old growth. Burned... read more
Food and feeding
Largely wood-boring beetle larvae, particularly the large grubs of white-spotted sawyer (Monochamus scutellatus), an insect... read more
Breeding
Laying from end Apr, mostly mid-May to mid Jun, but nest excavation can commence in late Mar. Courtship includes flutter-aerial display,... read more
Movements
Resident; subject to irregular dismigration and eruptive movements, possibly caused by regional... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Generally uncommon, e.g. estimated population of just 200 individuals in N Wisconsin within potential habitat estimated at 198,097 ha... read more
Closely related to P. tridactylus and P. funebris; one molecular phylogeny suggested sister relationship with former#R. Monotypic.