Woodpeckers of the World: Picid in Focus: Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris

Sunday, 17 July 2011

Picid in Focus: Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris

Ladder-backed Woodpecker is found in the south-west of the USA and Central America. It is polytypic with 8 subspecies recognised. Desert-dwelling it replaces the closely related Nuttall’s Woodpecker in arid habitats where it forages in trees, bushes, cacti and on the ground for insects. It also eats cactus fruits. Photo of this female (note the black crown, males have red) taken by by Steve Shunk in the USA.

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Background

Woodpeckers, the Picidae, are Piciformes, an order that includes some of the oldest avian lineages. The Piciformes probably originated about 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period and became distinct from their closest relatives some 50 million years ago. Depending upon which taxonomy is followed, and the fact that the status of some species is unclear, around 240-260 woodpecker species probably exist globally. The Picidae includes three subfamilies: Jynginae (wrynecks), Picumninae (piculets) and the Picinae, the “true woodpeckers”. In terms of size, behaviour, distribution and the habitats they use, the Picinae are a fairly diverse group of birds with six distinct tribes. They are widespread and found from sea-level to high-altitudes but absent from the Arctic, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and some other islands. Worldwide woodpeckers are usually, but not exclusively, associated with trees.