In the Dead of Winter, Picidae Rule!
January 22, 2020
It's January. Our holiday decorations have been packed away, and the happy chaos of dinner parties and visits with family and friends has faded away. Our household is settling into its everyday routines as the new year begins. My morning bird walks are crisp and chilly as I wade through puddles of yellow, orange and golden leaves in my neighborhood parks and streets. Still, the temperature quickly warms to a comfortable 65 degrees, allowing me to wander longer. In January, the sky is a different blue, more intense and luminous than in the summer's shimmering heat. What better way to enjoy Arizona's temperate winter clime than watching birds?
A male Gila Woodpecker clings to the trimmed canopy of a palm tree.
At this time of year, my mind is on the Picidae (pronounced piss-a-day) family, a diverse group of birds found on five continents that include woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers. These birds bore into any wood with chisel-like beaks, making them the target of many angry humans who have had to repair damage to homes or buildings. I suppose the anger is justified, but what a shame these beautiful birds have to take the rap (pun intended) simply for doing what comes naturally. In Verrado, year-round residents like the Gila Woodpecker keep me entertained with loud, insistent squawks, and I enjoy searching for wintering Picidae that pass through Arizona during migration.
You may be familiar with these birds, having watched a woodpecker hammer away at the trunk or branch of a tree, chips flying as it excavated a nest cavity or dug for tasty beetles. But have you ever wondered how this bird pounds with all that force without severely damaging its body?
THE BEAK. A woodpecker's head strikes with at least 1,000 times the force of gravity, and several specialized adaptations contribute to its ability to absorb that shock. It has a sharp beak that pierces into bark or wood and spongy cartilage at the base of the beak to absorb the force of all that hammering. Other modifications are strong neck muscles and a thick skull, which has a narrow space around the brain to absorb the shock and protect it from the concussive force of all that drumming.
THE EYES. A translucent third eyelid called a nictitating membrane cleanses the bird's eyes and protects them from flying debris while maintaining visibility. The membrane also protects the retina so it doesn't tear.
THE TONGUE. Picidae's tongues vary according to species, but all are long and narrow with an assortment of barbs near the tip, which allow the bird to reach food in deep crevices or holes. Storing such a long tool can be a problem when it's not in use, but a series of bones that wrap around the jaw and over the head support the tongue (see illustration). Woodpeckers also produce sticky saliva that coats the tongue, increasing their ability to capture insects.
A UNIQUE FAMILY. Scientists classify birds and divide them into orders, each order into families, families into genera, each genus into species, etc. The Picidae family is one of nine that make up the order Piciformes, which contains about 450 species, of which the Picidae make up nearly half. North America has 22 species of Picidae, and of those, I've seen 15, 8 in Verrado!
ACORN WOODPECKER. Acorn Woodpeckers are the bird world's circus clowns, traveling in noisy groups, dressed in flashy harlequin costumes, topped with a red cap and outlandish facial makeup. They raucously bounce from tree limb to tree limb, flying at death-defying speed through the treetops, laughing and calling to one another and stopping only briefly to gather acorns or look for insects. Unlike the monogamous and solitary Gila Woodpecker, the Acorn Woodpecker is highly social and polygamous, with males and females competing vigorously during the breeding season.
LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER. One of the smaller woodpeckers, the Ladder-backed Woodpecker, has a contact call that is a sharp squeak with a distinct descending whinny. They inhabit areas forested with oaks along the coast and foothills of Oregon, California and the southwest's deserts through Central America to Colombia. Generally, they prefer drier climates with smaller trees and shrubs. When foraging together, males (right) concentrate more on trunks and big limbs, while females (left) prefer outer twigs, bushes and cacti. A few sometimes discover Verrado in the winter and hang out in the oak and mesquite trees throughout the community.
LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. The Lewis's Woodpecker's call is a quiet, sneezing sound with an equally soft, short drum, so I rarely hear them. But you can't miss spotting this large, dark, long-winged woodpecker as it clings to the side of palm trees or perches on snags of dead trees. Its glossy black/green body, dark red face, pink belly and gray collar make it one of the more elegant-looking birds in the Picidae family.
FLICKERS. According to the Maricopa Audubon Society's Internet site, flickers consume more ants than other North American bird species. Because of this proclivity for ants, flickers have developed even longer tongues than their relatives, capable of extending five inches outside their bills to probe deeply into anthills.
New birders may find differentiating between the two species of flickers tricky as habitats and appearances are nearly identical. However, the Gilded Flicker, limited to riparian woods and southern Arizona and Mexico deserts, has a bright cinnamon forehead, brown crown and nape and yellow under its wings. The male (left) has a bright red mustache.
The more widespread Northern Flicker has a brown crown and orange under wings and two easily distinguished races or subspecies: Red-shafted in the West and Yellow-shafted in the East. These species hybridize where ranges overlap, and "intergrades" can have features from both races.
Sapsuckers are harder to find than their more boisterous woodpecker cousins, and often a soft rat-a-tat is my only clue that one is present. Another sign of sapsucker activity in the area is the nearly parallel holes they drill in live trees, leaving the trees to ooze sap. They'll return later to feed on the sticky juice and the insects attracted to it. Hummingbirds have formed a symbiotic relationship with sapsuckers, feeding on the sap left behind. The hair-like fringes at the tip of a sapsucker's tongue act like a mop to soak up the juice. Appropriately, a group of sapsuckers is known as a "slurp."
North America has four sapsucker species: Red-naped and Red-breasted (top left and right) are similar in coloring, but the amount of red on their heads and black on their backs distinguishes the two species, which often interbreed where their ranges overlap. The Yellow-bellied (bottom left) is rarely seen in Arizona, breeding across Canada east of the Rockies and winters in the southeastern U.S. and farther south. Occasionally one or two will show up somewhere around the state, preferring deciduous and mixed woods. Williamson's Sapsucker looks quite different from the other three species with his silky black feathers, cherry-red throat and rich yellow belly. Unlike most woodpecker species, the female looks very different and was initially considered an entirely different species.
SEARCHING FOR PICIDAE IN ARIZONA. While Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsuckers and Flickers are the more common Picidae in the Phoenix area, other relatives can be found all over Arizona. You'll need to do a little driving and searching to find them. Head northeast to the higher elevations of the White Mountains, and you'll undoubtedly see Lewis's, Acorn, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers or a Williamson's Sapsucker, and you may be lucky enough to find an American Three-toed Woodpecker. Drive southeast to observe the Arizona Woodpecker, a uniquely colored brown bird that only lives in southern Arizona and New Mexico.
The Arizona Woodpecker only lives in southern Arizona and New Mexico.
