The white-headed woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus albolarvatus'') is a non-migratory

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

that resides in

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

forests of the

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

s of western North America.

Description

It has a black body (approximately long) and white head. It has white

primary feather Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

s that 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 from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

through southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. They form nests in dead trees or snags and reproduce once per year.

Taxonomy

Most of the range is occupied by the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

. 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 the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

. Birds on

Mount Pinos Mount Pinos () ( Samala: Iwɨhɨnmu'') is a mountain located in the Los Padres National Forest on the boundary between Ventura and Kern counties in California. The summit, at , is the highest point in Ventura County. The mountain is the hi ...

are somewhat intermediate. mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' and

ATP synthase ATP synthase is a protein that catalyzes the formation of the energy storage molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) using adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi). It is classified under ligases as it changes ADP by the formation ...

subunit Subunit may refer to: *Subunit HIV vaccine, a class of HIV vaccine *Protein subunit, a protein molecule that assembles with other protein molecules *Monomer, a molecule that may bind chemically to other molecules to form a polymer *Sub-subunit, a ...

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

data confirms this arrangement and also suggests that the Mount Pinos birds are closer to ''L. a. gravirostris'' (Alexander & Burns, 2006). Apparently, the larger bill of the southern subspecies is an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

for being better able to feed on the large, spiny cones of Coulter pines (''Pinus coulteri''). Some taxonomic authorities, including the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

, continue to place this species in the genus ''

Picoides ''Picoides'' is a genus of woodpeckers (family Picidae) that are native to Eurasia and North America, commonly known as three-toed woodpeckers. Taxonomy The genus ''Picoides'' was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépè ...

''.

References

External links

* *
USGS Forest and Rangeland birds

a bibliographic resource * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q27074932

white-headed woodpecker The white-headed woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus albolarvatus'') is a non-migratory woodpecker that resides in pine forests of the mountains of western North America. Description It has a black body (approximately long) and white head. It has whit ...

Native birds of Western Canada Native birds of the Northwestern United States Native birds of the West Coast of the United States Birds of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands