WOODPECKERS: GILA WOODPECKER 
381 
General Habits. —As the Northern Pileated Woodpecker is 
apparently absent or nearly so from the Rocky Mountain sections of 
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, Doctor Henry’s record 
for New Mexico is of peculiar interest and the appearance of this notable 
bird should be kept clearly in mind that no possible straggler be over¬ 
looked. Far and away larger than any other woodpecker of the region, 
with a wing extent of twenty-five to thirty inches, the great black bird 
with his red crest and white wing spots may be named on sight as he goes 
bounding away through the forest. His signaling tattoo can be heard 
far through the forest, and the blazes or borings he leaves on the dead 
trees may usually be recognized in passing. Excavated oval troughs 
with a round thumb hole in the bottom tell the story. Sometimes slabs 
of decayed wood several feet long will be torn from a stub and thrown 
on the ground. 
As the male and female of the Northern Pileated are commonly seen 
together in winter as well as in summer, it is supposed that they are 
mated for life. 
Additional Literature.—Cariiiger, H. W., and Gurnie Wells, Condor. 
XXI, 153-156, 1919 (nesting).— Miller, L. H., Condor, XXI, 77-80, 1919. 
GILA WOODPECKER: Centurus uropygialis uropygi&lis Baird 
Plate 38 
Description. — Length: 8-9.3 inches, wing 5-5.3, tail 3.5-3.9, bill .9-1.2. Adult 
male: Head, neck, and underparts drab, except for red crown patch and pale yellow 
belly; back, rump, and icing coverts barred with black and white, primaries black marked 
with white; tail black, middle and outer feathers marked with white; iris orange, 
bill blackish, legs and feet greenish. Adult female: Crown without red, belly paler, 
yellow more restricted. Young male: Similar to adult male but head and underparts 
grayer, crown patch smaller and duller, and back more or less washed with brownish, 
barring less distinct. Young female: Like young male but crown without red. 
Range. —Lower Sonoran Zone from northwestern Lower California, south¬ 
eastern California, southeastern Nevada, central Arizona, and southwestern New 
Mexico south through western Mexico to Jalisco. 
State Records. —The common name of the Gila Woodpecker was bestowed 
on account of its abundance in the valley of that river up which it ranges from 
Arizona into New Mexico as far as the town of Gila, where it was noted October 
6-12, 1908. It had been found common the last week in September, 1908, farther 
down the river at Redrock (Goldman). There is no certainty as to whether or not 
the birds had nested at the above localities. These are the first records for the 
species in New Mexico, though it has been credited to the State for the past 50 years 
on the strength of specimens that were really taken in Arizona. [It was observed 
only in the extreme southwestern part of the State, among the Arizona sycamores, 
where, April 8, 1916, birds were preparing nesting holes (Ligon). A specimen was 
taken 20 miles west of Silver City, December 10, 1917, and the species was found 
common and nesting May 13, 1924, at Redrock, 30 miles west of Silver City (Kel¬ 
logg).]—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In giant cactus, cottonwoods, willows, sycamores, oaks, and mesquites. 
Eggs: 3 to 5, white. 
