Black-backed Woodpecker Photo Gallery

Male

Medium-sized woodpecker with a solid black back, single white stripe on the face, and barred flanks. Males have a yellow crown patch.

Female

Medium-sized, mostly black woodpecker with single white cheek stripe and barred flanks. Wings have reduced white spotting. Like the American Three-toed Woodpecker, has 3 instead of 4 toes.

Male

A medium-sized woodpecker with a long, powerful bill; inky black back; and fine black barring on the flanks. Male has a yellow crown patch, lacking in adult female but present in juvenile.

Male

Male has a yellow crown patch, solid black back, and barred flanks. Sometimes appears dingy gray on the underparts from feeding on soot-blackened trees.

Female

Almost entirely black from behind, save for the small white spots on the wings and fully white outer tail feathers.

Male

Best known as a specialist in burned forests, but also forages in unburned forest, particularly on trees infested with bark beetles.

Female

Females have a black crown, a white stripe on the face, and barred flanks. Found across the boreal forest and in the mountains of western North America, particularly in recently burned forests where wood-boring insects are abundant.

Male

Unhurried foraging style. Typically stays in one spot for long periods, first stripping away bark and then pecking into wood-boring beetle tunnels to extract the larvae.