Extralimital: White-headed Woodpecker

One in an intermittent series of posts on birds not generally seen in the DVOC area.

The White-headed Woodpecker is a bird found only in the mountains of western North America. They range from the Mexican to Canadian borders, in the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington and just into British Columbia. Similar in size to our Hairy Woodpecker, these are distinguished by their white head and all black backs (there are hairys out there too).

We saw this pair on a recent trip to Yosemite NP. In the Mariposa Grove of the giant sequoia. The guy above is peeking out of his nest hole in one of the fallen giants there.

This pair was actively flying in and out the their nest, the female with the all white head, the male with the red cap.

Female Perched, Male Leaving the Nest

The birds would take turns foraging and at the nest, one leaving and the other right there to take its place. They did not travel far when out of the nest, a few hundred feet at most, foraging on other downed trees in the immediate vicinity.

We got good albeit somewhat distant views as they came and went. Taking prey back to the nest for the unseen but no doubt hungry chicks.

The birds were common throughout the park and they are non-migratory year round residents. Should you find yourself in the mountains out west look for them in conifer forests, as in addition to the expected insects pine seeds are a dietary staple.

While they seemed completely disinterested in us we still enjoyed their company as we hiked through the park. I'm sure you will too.