Black-backed Woodpecker

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Photo courtesy of www.avesphoto.com

(Picoides arcticus)

Habitat and Biology:
Black-backed woodpeckers help maintain healthy forests by eating wood-boring beetles, ants and other insects. This woodpecker uses a variety of forest habitats where snags are abundant. It nests in live and dead trees (snags) that are at least 7" in diameter and have dead heartwood. Usually 4 eggs are laid. Highest densities of black-backed woodpeckers have been found in forests which have been burned in the previous 3-5 years.

Management:
Black-backed woodpeckers select habitats with a higher density of snags than other woodpeckers. One threat to this species is salvage logging on burned areas; leaving part of the burn unlogged, or retaining at least 42 snags per acre, provides habitat for black-backed woodpeckers.

Interesting Facts:

• One black-backed woodpecker can eat over 13,000 insects each year.
• This woodpecker often feeds by flicking the bark off a tree, rather than digging a deep hole into the tree trunk.
• Black-backed woodpeckers occasionally eat tree cambium and some fruits.

Learn more about the Black-backed woodpecker:

• Seattle Audubon Society
• Montana Natural Heritage Program
• National Park Service

 

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