Gila woodpecker
| Gila woodpecker | |
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M. uropygialis
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| Melanerpes uropygialis (Baird, 1854)
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The Gila woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) is a medium-sized woodpecker of the desert regions of the southwestern United States and western Mexico. In the U.S., they range through southeastern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Habitat
This woodpecker's habitat consists of low desert scrub typical of the Sonoran Desert. They build nests in holes made in saguaro cacti[2] or mesquite trees. Cavities excavated by these woodpeckers in saguaro cacti are later used by a variety of other species, including the elf owl.[3] There, they typically lay 3–5 white eggs.
Description
The back and wings of this bird are spotted and barred with a black and white zebra-like pattern. The neck, throat, belly and head are greyish-tan in color. The male has a small red cap on the top of the head. Females and juveniles are similar, but both lack the red cap of the adult male. White wing patches are prominent in flight. The dark tail has white bars on the central tail feathers. They range from 8–10 in (20–25 cm) in length.
This woodpecker's voice is a rolling churr sound. It also makes a yip yip yip sound and a kee-u, kee-u, kee-u sound. Its drum is long and steady.
Gallery
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Melanerpesuropygialis.JPG
In Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
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Melanerpesuropygialisdrinking.JPG
A Gila woodpecker drinking water
References
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- Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S.; Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (1966).
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Melanerpes uropygialis |
- The Nature Conservancy's Species Profile: Gila Woodpecker
- Gila woodpecker videos, photos, and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
- Gila woodpecker photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Melanerpes uropygialis at IUCN Red List maps
- Pages with broken file links
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Woodpeckers
- Melanerpes
- Endemic birds of Southwestern North America
- Fauna of the Sonoran Desert
- Native birds of the Southwestern United States
- Fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley
- Fauna of the Yuma Desert
- Birds of Mexico
- Birds of the Baja California Peninsula
- Native birds of Western Mexico
