woodpecker id help, please

This woodpecker was on the trail to Mt. Jackson. Is it an American Three-toed? Male or female? I can link to a higher res image if needed. Thanks for any help.










happy trails

Nice captures 'Gnome! According to Wikkipedia the male three toed woodpecker has a yellow cap, so I would assume thats what you have in your images.

Brian

Could it be a Black-backed Woodpecker?

They like to live in recently burned areas with a good supply of wood-boring beetles.

Pat T

Thanks! All the pics I see on the web look like the American Three-toed, and your link shows it to be a male. However, the facial marking look different. I notice in all the pics on the web that white stripes peel back from the eye and the bill, but mine has a white stripe in a different pattern.

One of my pics does show it to have three toes.

EDIT: I think Pat has just nailed it. The facial pattern looks identical. Thanks Pat!

happy trails

Cool pics. Have seen quite a few woodpeckers here on Long Island as well. But what is all that white stuff on the trees?
Good thing I decided to pass on cross country skiis this year.

Black-Backed Woodpecker

The three-toed woodpecker has a white stripe behind the eye and some white small white spots near the yellow cap which seems inconsistent with your picture. I believe it's a black-backed woodpecker.

Nice picture. Puck will be happy.

Black-Backed Woodpecker (Same link as Pat T)
Three-Toed Woodpecker

-Dr. Wu

dr_wu002 said:

The three-toed woodpecker has a white stripe behind the eye and some white small white spots near the yellow cap which seems inconsistent with your picture. I believe it's a black-backed woodpecker.

Nice picture. Puck will be happy.

Black-Backed Woodpecker (Same link as Pat T)
Three-Toed Woodpecker

-Dr. Wu

Click to expand...

Thanks! The links describe this as the southern extreme of their normal range, but this is looking like an irruptive year, which means, I believe, that certain species have thrived due to certain conditions such as an explosion of insect populations (food). This leads to more birds, who then travel beyond their normal range due to crowding.

Is that right? Puck, Nartreb, et al.?

also, the BBW is listed as a species of concern, so I reported the sighting on eBIRD.

happy trails

forestgnome said:

Thanks! The links describe this as the southern extreme of their normal range, but this is looking like an irruptive year, which means, I believe, that certain species have thrived due to certain conditions such as an explosion of insect populations (food). This leads to more birds, who then travel beyond their normal range due to crowding.

Is that right? Puck, Nartreb, et al.?

also, the BBW is listed as a species of concern, so I reported the sighting on eBIRD.

happy trails

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have this book which is a fairly good resource for birds in the East and it shows both the black-backed woodpecker and the three-toed woodpecker as having a more Northern range. They seem more Canadian.

Have you photographed any Pileated Woodpeckers at all? I saw one once in NH (Hancock Notch Trail) pecking away at a tree -- but perhaps more thrillingly, I saw one from my balcony here in suburban Easthampton MA. That is a spectacular bird!

-Dr. Wu

Nice catch, Forestgnome!

Only once have I seen a three-toed, about 15 years ago, while bushwhacking Round Mountain near Chain of Ponds Snow.

I've seen Pileateds about a dozen times in NH and Maine, and heard them pretty often. They always stop us in our tracks and disappear too soon. It's fun to sneak off-trail towards the distant sound to try to get a glimpse.

We had a pair that used to come to the yard almost daily for a while, one of the nice things about them is that the male has a " red moustache"... I always got a kick out of seeing whose who when they came by.

'gnome, you should report the Black-Backed to NH Audubon on their NH Birding List Serve . That species has just one report (of a pair) in January, some others from earlier in the winter at their Weekly Rare Bird Alert.

We're fortunate to have the annual company in our yard of a pair of breeding Pileateds. It's a kick to have them around.

forestgnome said:

Thanks! The links describe this as the southern extreme of their normal range, but this is looking like an irruptive year, which means, I believe, that certain species have thrived due to certain conditions such as an explosion of insect populations (food). This leads to more birds, who then travel beyond their normal range due to crowding.

Is that right? Puck, Nartreb, et al.?

also, the BBW is listed as a species of concern, so I reported the sighting on eBIRD.

happy trails

Click to expand...

Yes you have a male Black Back. Although many field guides show The Whites as being the southern most are in the range of the three toed, they are still considered very rare in the area. Both can be found in blow down areas or fir waves of red/black spruce. Most of the black backs in the Whites are found at the higher elevations you can find them al0ong Cherry Mt road and places like Ethan Pond trail. The most recent, continued sightings of Three toeds are near Island Pond Vt. Wayne Peterson's book Birds of New England gives the three toed an honorable mention as a possabilitiy as a rare sighting.

I am glad you found eBird. I encourage everyone to use it. Your most mundane sightings and reports actually become part of a robust database as more and more people use it. Both Cornell and Audubon use this database.

You are right about the fluctuations in food. The Northern New England is reporting very small numbers of winter finches due to the absence of a cone crop and Mt Ash berrie this year. These birds are all down in Southern New England. The wood peckers would feast on these crops but primarily feed on insects. especially during the nesting season. Birders may secretly pray for a spruce bud worm outbreak. If that ever occured again (IICR the last was in the 60's) we would see an explosion of wood pecker, warbler and finch species.

forestgnome said:

so I reported the sighting on eBIRD.

Click to expand...

Puck said:

I am glad you found eBird.

Click to expand...

And now I have too. Thanks.

-Dr. Wu

sardog1 said:

'gnome, you should report the Black-Backed to NH Audubon on their NH Birding List Serve . That species has just one report (of a pair) in January, some others from earlier in the winter at their Weekly Rare Bird Alert.

We're fortunate to have the annual company in our yard of a pair of breeding Pileateds. It's a kick to have them around.

Click to expand...

Will do, and it's the first one I've ever seen. He was about a half mile down from the summit. I tried to follow him to no avail.

Yes, I love the piliateds. I did manage to get a decent photo of one, but birds are hard to photograph. Each time I see a pileated I try to get a shot, and eventually I'll get a good one.

Puck, thanks for the info!

happy trails

I took this photo of a pileated from my back yard a while back.

Pileated woodpecker

Not the best shot in the world, but as Forestgnome said, birds are hard to photograph!