Yakama Nation Fisheries
TFW-Wildlife
TFW-Wildlife
FACTS
White-headed Woodpecker Facts:
·
In
fall and winter, feed extensively on seeds of ponderosa pine and
other large-seeded pines (e.g., Jeffrey pine [Pinus
jeffreyi], sugar pine [P.
lambertiana], and Coulter pine [P.
coulteri]).
·
White-headed Woodpeckers in the extreme southern portion of the
species range have significantly longer beaks for feeding on the
large cones of Coulter pine.
·
Feeds
on pine sap from early spring until nesting begins.
·
One
of only three woodpeckers in the genus
Picoides known to
excavate wells for feeding on tree sap.
·
White-headed Woodpeckers forage more like a nuthatch than a
woodpecker, primarily gleaning insects from the surface and furrows
of bark.
·
The
white face (head) of this species is thought to function as a way to
reflect light into bark crevices to facilitate finding insects.
·
These
woodpeckers are relatively weak excavators and therefore require
snags that are at least moderately decayed in order to excavate a
nest cavity.
Photo by George Vlahakis
GENERAL WOODPECKER FACTS:
·
Woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet, meaning that two toes point
forward and two backward.
This helps them to cling to tree bark.
·
Some
woodpeckers, for example the Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides
arcticus), have only three toes, 2 that point forward and one
backward.
·
Woodpecker tail feathers are extremely stiff and allow the bird to
rest on them while climbing bark to look for food or excavate
cavities.
·
Woodpecker tongues wrap around the back and over the top of the
skull through the lengthening of the hyoid apparatus and the ends of
which are stored in the nasal cavity.
This allows the woodpecker to extend its tongue sometimes up
to 3-4 inches past the tip of its beak to reach insects and their
larvae deep in the cambium layer of trees.
·
The
end of most woodpecker’s tongues (exceptions in the North American
sapsuckers and flickers) end with hard, multiple barbs.
This barbed tongue is not used for spearing insect larvae,
but for wedging between larvae and the tunnels they are in and then
pulling the larvae out.
·
The
nostrils of most woodpeckers are slit-like and protected by a small
sheath of feathers to prevent debris from entering them.
·
Most
male woodpeckers incubate and brood the young at night, and then on
and off during the day, taking turns with the female.
·
Both
sexes take part in excavating a cavity, but males perform a greater
share of the work.
·
Woodpeckers are found worldwide except in Australia, Madagascar, New
Zealand and the Polar Regions.
There are approximately 200 species of woodpeckers in the world
Photo by George Vlahakis