American Three-toed Woodpecker

The American Three-toed Woodpecker is a small, boreal woodpecker with a black-and-white barred back, white underparts, and dark, black-barred flanks. It closely resembles the Black-backed Woodpecker but shows a barred rather than solid black back. Males sport a yellow crown patch, while females have a plain black crown.

As its name suggests, this species has only three toes on each foot, an unusual trait among woodpeckers that is thought to improve leverage while clinging to bark and delivering powerful blows.

Key Field Marks

• Barred black-and-white back (not solid black)
• White underparts with black barring on the flanks
• Black-and-white striped face
• Males show a yellow crown patch; females have solid black crowns
• Only three toes per foot

Similar Species

• Black-backed Woodpecker has a solid, unbarred black back and slightly larger size, and often occurs in more recently burned habitat.
• Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers have four toes and a white back stripe rather than an overall barred pattern.

Habitat

This species inhabits mature and old-growth coniferous forest, particularly spruce and fir, including boreal lowlands and high-elevation subalpine forest, often near areas with standing dead or dying trees.

Range

It ranges across the boreal forest of Alaska and Canada, extending south through the Rocky Mountains, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada in the western United States.

Migration

American Three-toed Woodpeckers are largely non-migratory residents, though some individuals wander in response to local insect outbreaks.

Behavior

Like the Black-backed Woodpecker, this species flakes bark from dead and dying conifers to expose wood-boring beetle larvae, and will exploit trees killed by fire, flooding, or bark beetle outbreaks.

Voice

Calls include a sharp pik note and a descending rattle; drumming is a steady, even roll.

Feeding

The diet is dominated by beetle larvae, along with other insects and some tree sap and cambium.

Nesting

Pairs excavate a cavity in a dead or dying conifer; both parents incubate the 3-4 white eggs and share care of the young.