286 
PI Cl FORMES 
399. White-headed Woodpecker, le pic a t^te blanche. Dryobates albolarvatus. 
L, 8-90. Male: all black, except for white head, foreneck, patch on wing, and a red bar 
across nape. Female similar, but without red bar. 
Distinction. With above description, can be mistaken for no 
other species. The female Williamson’s Sapsucker may have a whitish 
head, but her body, sharply barred with black and white, is quite 
different. 
Field Marks. A black woodpecker, with white head and white 
wing patch. 
Nesting. In a hole in a stub. 
Distribution. In mountains from Washington to southern 
California. Occasional in southern British Columbia. Only three 
Canadian specimens known, from the Similkameen and Okanagan 
Valleys. 
SUBSPECIES. The form to be expected in Canada is the northern or type race, 
Dryobates albolarvatus albolarvatus. Only an occasional wanderer across our far south- 
western borders, 
400. Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, black-backed woodpecker. le pic a 
dos noir. Picoides arcticus. L, 9-50. Plate XLI B. A woodpecker with three, instead 
of four, toes (Figure 391c, page 277), and a solidly black back; male with a yellow crown 
cap. 
Distinctions. With three, instead of four, toes, likely to be confused only with the 
next species. The back is solid black, however, instead of brokenly barred with white. 
Field Marks. The yellow cap will identify the male as a Three-toed Woodpecker. 
This is the only woodpecker with white breast and throat and solidly black back. 
Distribution. The northern coniferous forests across the continent, southward in the 
mountains. 
401. American Three- toed Woodpecker or Banded-backed Woodpecker, lad- 
der-backed woodpecker. le pic A dos bare! Picoides tridactylus. L, 8-75. A wood- 
pecker with three, instead of four, toes (Figure 391c, page 277). Back, black with broken 
white bars, and male with yellow crown cap. 
Distinctions. Except for the banded, instead of solid black, back, almost exactly 
similar to the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, which is the species most likely to be con- 
fused with it. 
Field Marks. The yellow cap will identify the male as a Three-toed Woodpecker, 
and the barring of the back will indicate this species. Much like a Hairy Woodpecker, 
but back barred with white, instead of a longitudinal mass of that colour; flanks also 
heavily barred with black. The female Williamson’s Sapsucker also has a barred back, but 
the barring is not confined to the centre of the back, and the crown is never black. 
Nesting. In holes excavated in tree trunks, often living ones. 
Distribution. The northern coniferous forests of North America, southward along 
the mountains to New Mexico. 
SUBSPECIES. Several subspecies are accepted. Of these, two occur in Canada. 
The eastern American Three-toed Woodpecker (le Pic it dos barre de l’Est) extends west 
to Alberta where its place is taken by the Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker (le Pic dos barr6 
de 1’ Alaska) Picoides tridactylus fasciatus, characterized principally by more white on back. 
The Three-toed Woodpeckers are typically north woods birds, and in 
summer come south only in the higher altitudes of the mountains. In 
the winter they may occur in migration in the foothills or southward in 
suitable localities. 
Figure 394 
White-headed 
Woodpecker; 
scale, |. 
Male 
