Three-toed Woodpecker
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| Picoides tridactylus |
The Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus, is a medium-sized woodpecker.
Adults are black on the head, wings and rump. They are white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Their back is white with black bars. Their tail is black with white outer feathers barred with black. They closely resemble the Black-backed Woodpecker. The adult male has a yellow cap.
Their breeding habitat is coniferous forests across western Canada, Alaska and the midwestern United States. They nest in a cavity in a dead conifer, sometimes a live tree or pole. The pair excavates a new nest each year.
This bird is normally a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south and birds at high elevations may move to lower leves in winter.
These birds forage on conifers in search of wood-boring beetle larvae or other insects. They may also eat fruit and tree sap.
These birds often move into areas with large numbers of insect-infested trees, often following a forest fire or flooding. Where they compete for habitat, this bird is likely to give way to the Black-backed Woodpecker.
