White-headed woodpecker

White-headed woodpecker
Male white-headed woodpecker inDeschutes National Forest,Oregon
Conservation status
Least Concern(IUCN 3.1)
Apparently Secure(NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Picidae
Genus:	Leuconotopicus
Species:	L. albolarvatus
Binomial name
Leuconotopicus albolarvatus (Cassin,1850)
Subspecies
L. a. albolarvatus(Cassin,1850) Common white-headed woodpecker L. a. gravirostris(Grinnell,1902) Southern white-headed woodpecker
White-headed woodpecker range
Synonyms
Picoides albolarvatus Leuconerpes albolarvatus (Cassin,1850)

Thewhite-headed woodpecker(Leuconotopicus albolarvatus) is a non-migratorywoodpeckerthat resides inpineforests of themountainsof western North America.

Description

It has a black body (approximately 20 cm (7.9 in) long) and white head. It has whiteprimary feathersthat form a crescent in flight. Males have a red spot at the back of the head.

Distribution and habitat

The range of the white-headed woodpecker stretches in the mountains fromBritish Columbiathrough southernCalifornia.They form nests in dead trees orsnagsand reproduce once per year.

Taxonomy

Most of the range is occupied by thenominate subspecies.In the southern part of the range,L. a. gravirostris,which has a longer bill - especially in males - and tail, is only found on mountaintops of theSan Gabriel MountainstoSan Diego County.Birds onMount Pinosare somewhat intermediate.mtDNAcytochromebandATP synthasesubunit6sequencedata confirms this arrangement and also suggests that the Mount Pinos birds are closer toL. a. gravirostris(Alexander & Burns, 2006). Apparently, the larger bill of the southern subspecies is anadaptationfor being better able to feed on the large, spiny cones ofCoulter pines(Pinus coulteri). Some taxonomic authorities, including theAmerican Ornithological Society,place this species in the genusDryobates.

A pair of white-headed woodpeckers playing around a tree nearLake Tahoe

References

• Alexander, Matthew P.; Burns, Kevin J. (2006)."Intraspecific Phylogeography and Adaptive Divergence in the White-headed Woodpecker".Condor.108(3): 489–508.doi:10.1650/0010-5422(2006)108[489:IPAADI]2.0.CO;2.

External links

• Media related toLeuconotopicus albolarvatusat Wikimedia Commons
• Data related toPicoides albolarvatusat Wikispecies
• USGS Forest and Rangeland birds
• White-headed woodpecker,a bibliographic resource
• White-headed woodpecker photo galleryat VIREO (Drexel University)
• "White-headed woodpecker media".Internet Bird Collection.
• White-headed woodpecker Species Account– Cornell Lab of Ornithology