WOODPECKERS 



'49 



To sonic tlu' Arctic Woodijcckcr is a stupid 

 bird, hut its lack of fear of hunters and its 

 interest in its own atTairs of hunting for worms 



lias made it an easily studied bird in the field. 

 This habit may have tempt cfl many a man with a 

 gun to blaze away at it. 



THREE-TOED WOODPECKER 



Picoides americanus 



A. O. U. Number 401 



Other Names. — .\mericaii 'I'tircc-toccl VVoodiJCcker ; 

 \VliiU'-li;nki-il Thrcc-tocd Woodpecker; Ladder-back 

 WcKidpecktr. 



General Description.— Length, S'/^ inches. Upper 

 parts, black and white — a white hne down the back, 

 interrupted with black; under parts, white. 



Color. — .Adult Male : Cron'ii, yellow; forehead, 

 black, spotted with dull white, especially toward the 

 back oiext to yellow of crown) ; rest of crown, lores, 

 around eyes, sides of head, and hindneck, uniform 

 glossy blue-black, sometimes with a narrow streak of 

 white behind the eye, often with whitish spots or 

 streaks on back of head (next to yellow of crown) ; 

 rest of upper parts, dull black (sometimes forming a 

 rather distinct but broken collar), back and upper rump 

 barred or transversely spotted, along center with white, 

 the outer webs of wings also spotted with white, except 

 inner secondaries, the innermost of which have white 

 spots along edge of inner web; two lateral tail-feathers 

 on each side, with terminal half or more white, the 



americanus Brchm 



See Color Plate 61 



third, extensively white terminally, this white stained 

 with brownish, especially on ends; nasal tufts, light 

 grayish-brown, finely streaked with black ; a streak or 

 narrow stripe of white around the mouth and passing 

 beneath eyes; beneath this a cheek stripe of glossy blue- 

 black, usually broken by white tips to the feathers ; 

 under parts, white, the sides and flanks, broadly barred 

 with black, sides of breast with bars more irregular, 

 sometimes broken into spots and streaks ; bill, grayish 

 horn color. Adult Female : Similar to the adult male, 

 but witliout any yellow on head, the entire crown glossy 

 blue-black, usually streaked or spotted with grayish- 

 white on forehead and crown, but sometimes immacu- 

 late. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : In a tree, usually an ever- 

 green, and not over 12 feet up. Eacs: Usually 4, white. 



Distribution. — Northern Nortli America, from cen- 

 tral Ungava to northern Minnesota, southern Ontario, 

 northern New York, Alaine, and New Hampshire; 

 casual in winter to Massachusetts. 



The Ladder-back Woodpeckers are divisible 

 into three regional varieties, the American, the 

 Alaska {Picoides americanus fasciatits), and the 

 Alpine (Picoides americanus dorsalis). The 

 American Three-toed Woodpecker is a rarer 

 bird in the United States than the Arctic Wood- 

 pecker. Far into the Canadian north beyond 

 the Great Slave Lake it becomes the commonest 

 of Woodpeckers. The Alaska Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker is not at all common even in Alaska, but 

 it is also rarely found as far south as north- 

 western \\'ashington. The variety called the 

 Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker is a Rocky 

 Mountain bird from Arizona to Canada, and ap- 

 pears to prefer the pine belts rather than the 

 upper spruce belts. 



There have been so few observations of the 

 Ladder-back and so much taken for granted of 

 their calls and customs, that the accounts of their 

 habits are quite confusing. In the Adirondacks 

 Dr. Merriam and Mr. Bagg have made extensive 

 observations. The birds there have nesting holes 

 in any kind of evergreen. The most remarkable 

 characteristic of this bird is that it is non-migra- 

 torv. Onlv the Hudsonian Chickadee, Canada 



Jay and Spruce Grouse are as perfectly non-mi- 

 gratory as the Three-toed Woodpecker. 



Quiet as is the Arctic Three-toed, the Ameri- 

 can Three-toed is even more silent. It might 

 easily be passed by unnoticed by the bird stu- 

 dent, anxious though he might be to see a real 

 rarity. 



The great bulk of the food of the Three-toed 

 Woodpeckers, both the Arctic Three-toed and 

 the Ladder-backed Three-toed, consists of the 

 larvje of wood-boring beetles or moths. These 

 are eaten with great regularity throughout the 

 year but more of them in the colder months 

 than in summer. In the dead of winter when all 

 insect life seems to be at a standstill these birds 

 still obtain their daily food. Snugly tucked away 

 in crevices in the bark of trees are the beetles 

 waiting for the return of summer ; the larvae 

 repose in their burrows of solid wood and 

 would seem to be safe from all disturbance ; but 

 the Three-toed Woodpeckers are not afraid of 

 cold weather or of hard work and they tear open 

 the hiding places in the bark or chisel into the 

 solid wood and thus get their breakfasts, dinners, 

 and suppers. 



