Common Name: Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Scientific Name: Dryobates scalaris
Order/Family: Piciformes/Picidae (Woodpeckers)
Description: The ladder-backed woodpecker is a small woodpecker about 16.5 to 19 cm (6½ to 7½ inches) in length. It is primarily colored black and white, with a barred pattern on its back and wings resembling the rungs of a ladder. Its rump is speckled with black, as are its cream-colored underparts on the breast and flanks. Southern populations have duskier buff breasts and distinctly smaller bills. Adult males have a red crown patch that is smaller in immatures and lacking in adult females. The ladder-backed woodpecker is very similar in appearance to Nuttall’s woodpecker, but has much less black on its head and upper back, and the range of the two species only intersects a minimal amount in southern Californiaand northern Baja California. Hybrids are known.
Distribution: The species can be found year-round over the southwestern United States, north to southern Nevada and southeastern Colorado, most of Mexico, and locally in Central America as far south as Nicaragua.
Habitat: The ladder-backed woodpecker is fairly common in dry brushy areas and thickets.
