m |
|||
| Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
| − | + | {{GSearch|Melanerpes+lewis}} | |
[[Category:Birds]] | [[Category:Birds]] | ||
Revision as of 09:29, 20 August 2007
- Melanerpes lewis
Identification
The Lewis's Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis, is a large North American species of woodpecker which was named for Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America during the Louisiana Purchase.
One of the largest species of American woodpeckers, Lewis's Woodpecker can be as large as 10 to 11 inches in length. It is mainly a blackish-green in color with a black rump. It has a gray collar and upper breast, with a pinkish belly, and a red face. The wings are much broader than those of other woodpeckers, and it flies at a much more sluggish pace with slow, but even flaps similar to those of a crow.
10 1/2 -11 1/2" (27-29 cm). Smaller than a flicker. Metallic greenish black above; gray collar and breast; pinkish-red belly; dark red face framed with greenish black. Sexes alike. Flight is crow-like, not undulating.
Distribution
Breeds from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to central California, northern Arizona, and northern New Mexico. Winters from southern British Columbia and Oregon to Colorado and south to northern Mexico; wanders east to Great Plains. It ranges mostly in the western to central United States, but can winter as far south as the US border with Mexico and summer as far north as Canada.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Open pine-oak woodlands, oak or cottonwood groves in grasslands, ponderosa pine country. Lewis's Woodpecker is locally common, dwelling mostly in open pine woodlands, and other areas with scattered trees.
Behaviour
It lays 6-8 white eggs in a cavity in a dead stump or tree limb, often at a considerable height. Nests in loose colonies. Usually silent, but occasionally gives a low churring note. Unlike most woodpeckers, Lewis's does not peck at wood for food and is seen more often on top of a fence post than clinging to it vertically. As with the Acorn Woodpecker, its main method of getting food is catching flying insects; both species also store acorns and other nuts for winter, and sometimes damage fruit orchards. Lewis's is the common woodpecker of mountain ranchlands, and some ranchers call it the "Crow Woodpecker" because of its dark color, large size, and slow flight. Unlike other American woodpeckers, it enjoys sitting in the open as opposed to sitting in heavy tree cover. Lewis's Woodpecker engages in some rather un-woodpecker-like behaviour in its gregarious feeding habits. Although it does forage for insects by boring into trees with its chisel-like bill, the bird also catches insects in the air during flight, a habit that only a few other woodpeckers, such as the Acorn woodpecker, the Red-headed Woodpecker and the Northern flicker, engage in. Lewis's Woodpecker also feeds on berries and nuts, and will even shell and store nuts in cracks and holes in wood to store until winter.
Lewis's Woodpecker nests in a cavity excavated from a dead tree branch. The nest is constructed mainly by the male. The female will lay between 5 and 9 eggs, which are plain white in coloration. Incubation is done by both sexes -the female sitting during the day and the male sitting at night- and lasts approximately 12 days, after which the young will hatch. The young leave the nest 4 to 5 weeks after hatching.
