LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER

(Dryobates scalaris)

eBird provides this description of the Ladder-backed Woodpecker:  Very small woodpecker of arid habitats, including mesquite scrub and dry woodlands. Black-and-white barring on the back, patterned flanks, and buffy wash below. Males have a red cap. Sometimes visits feeders. Most similar to Nuttall’s Woodpecker, but range barely overlaps. Slightly larger than Downy Woodpecker. Nests in cavities.

I saw my first Ladder-backed Woodpecker at the Old Barn in Warbler Woods on the morning of June 7, 2020.  He made a brief appearance to get a drink from the drip, and was gone after just a few seconds.  Fortunately I was ready with my camera and got a few pictures.  I hope you enjoy them!

Male Ladder-backed Woodpecker at the Old Barn in Warbler Woods, June 7, 2020.
This Ladder-backed Woodpecker was on high alert! Old Barn, Warbler Woods, June 7, 2020.
One more photo of the male Ladder-backed Woodpecker at Warbler Woods, June 7, 2020.


“Cool Facts” About the Ladder-backed Woodpecker From All About Birds…

  • Over a period of almost 8 years, a female Ladder-backed Woodpecker was seen in Riley County, Kansas, some 300 miles from the nearest part of their normal range. Many birds—even nonmigratory ones like the Ladder-backed, wander a bit out of range, but this wanderer was exceptional.
  • Most woodpeckers have their four toes arranged in an X-pattern, with two set forward, the other two backward (technically known as “zygodactyl”). This adaptation allows them to cling to vertical surfaces more easily or firmly than the passerines (perching birds), which have three toes set forward and one backward.
  • Ladder-backed Woodpecker was first described to science in 1829 by Johann Georg Wagler, a young German herpetologist working in Munich who described the species from specimens brought back to Europe. Wagler’s name is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of snake and six birds: a parakeet, a toucanet, an oriole, a woodcreeper, a guan, and an oropendola.
  • Ladder-backed Woodpeckers occasionally hybridize with their closest living relative, Nuttall’s Woodpecker. Where the two species co-occur, they respond vigorously to audio recordings of the other species when played in their territories during the nesting period, suggesting they regard each other as rivals.
  • The oldest known Ladder-backed Woodpecker was a male and at least 4 years, 6 months old when he was caught and released in Texas. He had been banded in the same state.