More Information

Additional Information

Picoides scalarisladder-backed woodpecker

By Clyde Ashley

Ge­o­graphic Range

From south­west­ern United States south to British Hon­duras (Lowther 2001).

Habi­tat

Wooded canyons, cot­ton­wood groves, pine and pine oak wood­lands, desert scrub, and desert grass­land dom­i­nated by mesquite. El­e­va­tion range is from sea level to 2,600 me­ters. A xeric adapted wood­pecker that is found in di­verse habi­tat in­clud­ing man­grove swamps in Hon­duras (Short 1982, Lowther 2001).

  • Range elevation
    sea level to 2600 m
    to 8530.18 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Black with white bar­ring on face, male has red crown patch, fe­male lacks red crown patch, fore­head black, and wings black with white spots, back is black with white bars. Sim­i­lar in ap­pear­ance to Nut­tall’s wood­pecker that has a cleaner white breast, and less spot­ting on flanks, and wider white bars on upper back. Length is 18.8 mm, weight 30.3g, and wing length (chord) 64mm. Zy­go­dactylic feet and stiff tail feath­ers for climb­ing (Kauf­man 2000, Lowther 2001).

  • Range mass
    21 to 48 g
    0.74 to 1.69 oz
  • Average mass
    30 g
    1.06 oz
  • Range length
    16 to 18 cm
    6.30 to 7.09 in
  • Range wingspan
    97.8 to 110 mm
    3.85 to 4.33 in
  • Average wingspan
    104 mm
    4.09 in

De­vel­op­ment

Chicks are nearly naked and help­less (al­tri­cial) and con­fined to the nest (ni­di­colous). No in­for­ma­tion is avail­able on fledg­ing stage, how­ever based on ob­ser­va­tions of the Nut­tal­lii’s wood­pecker (Pi­coides nut­tal­lii) they leave the nest 15 to 16 days after hatch­ing, and parental care con­tin­ues for two weeks after leav­ing the nest (Lowther 2000, Lowther 2001).

Re­pro­duc­tion

Breed­ing pair for­ma­tion starts in late Jan­u­ary and con­tin­ues through March. In­cu­ba­tion oc­curs from April through May. Clutch size varies from 4 to 6. Egg shape is oval or oval short. There is no in­for­ma­tion on nest se­lec­tion and build­ing, how­ever nest are cav­i­ties in Joshua trees, Wil­low, Wal­nut, Cot­ton­wood, Oak, Hack­berry, Pine, and Mesquite. There is no in­for­ma­tion on parental care, fledg­ing stage, im­ma­ture stage, or the break up of mat­ing pairs. Molt oc­curs after breed­ing from July to Oc­to­ber. Hy­bridiza­tion oc­curs with Nut­tall’s wood­pecker where their ranges over­lap (Short 1982, Lowther 2001).

  • Breeding season
    January through June
  • Range eggs per season
    4 to 6
  • Average eggs per season
    4
  • Average eggs per season
    4
    AnAge
  • Average time to hatching
    13 days
    AnAge
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    1 (low) years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    1 years
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    1 (low) years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    1 years

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Longevity is 4.5 years based on band­ing. No data on adult sur­vival rate. No known causes of mor­tal­ity (Lowther 2001).

Be­hav­ior

Lad­der-back wood­peck­ers have a swift and un­du­lat­ing flight. They also move by walk­ing, hop­ping, and climb­ing. Males and fe­males roost in sep­a­rate cav­i­ties. This species does not mi­grate (Lowther 2001).

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

Main foods are in­sects and arthro­pods found by probe, pick or glean, bill flick, pry, and ex­ca­vate. For­ag­ing ac­com­plished mainly on trunks and limbs of trees some re­ports of ground for­ag­ing (Lowther 2001).

Pre­da­tion

No known preda­tors for the species, but snakes rou­tinely raid wood­pecker nests, pri­mar­ily the bull/go­pher snakes. Cooper’s Hawks (Ac­cip­ite cooperii), other ac­cip­iters, fal­cons and owls reg­u­larly pre­date on wood­peck­ers (Koenig et al. 1995).

Ecosys­tem Roles

By eat­ing wood bor­ing bee­tles and other in­sects, they help to con­trol in­sect pop­u­la­tions and their ef­fect on trees (Short 1982).

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Con­trib­u­tors

Clyde Ash­ley (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Ari­zona, Jorge Schon­dube (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Ari­zona.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chaparral

Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

internal fertilization

fertilization takes place within the female's body

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

scrub forest

scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

visual

uses sight to communicate

Ref­er­ences

Bent, A. 1992. Life His­to­ries of North Amer­i­can Wood­peck­ers. Bloom­ing­ton, In­di­ana: In­di­ana Uni­ver­sity Press.

Kauf­man, K. 2000. Birds of North Amer­ica. New York: Houghton Mif­flin Com­pany.

Koenig, W., P. Stacey, M. Stan­back, R. Mumme. 1995. Acorn wood­pecker : Melan­er­pes formi­civorus. Pp. 1 - 24 in A Poole, F Gill, eds. Birds of North Amer­ica, No. 194. The Acad­emy of Nat­ural Sci­ences, Philadel­phia, PA, and The Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union, Wash­ing­ton, D.C..

Lowther, P. 2000. Nut­tall's wood­pecker : Pi­coides nut­tal­lii. Pp. 1-12 in A Poole, F Gill, eds. Birds of North Amer­ica, No. 555. The Acad­emy of Nat­ural Sci­ences, Philadel­phia, PA, and The Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union.

Lowther, P. 2001. Lad­der-backed wood­pecker : Pi­coides scalaris. Pp. 1-12 in A Poole, F Gill, eds. Birds of North Amer­ica, No. 565. The Acad­emy of Nat­ural Sci­ences, Philadel­phia, PA, and The Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union.

Short, L. 1982. Wood­peck­ers of the World. Greenville, Delaware: Delaware Mu­seum of Nat­ural His­tory , Foris Pub­li­ca­tions.

Search

Navigation Links

Information
Pictures
Sounds
Classification

Classification

  • Kingdom Animalia animals
  • Phylum Chordata chordates
  • Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
  • Class Aves birds
  • Order Piciformes woodpeckers and relatives
  • Family Picidae woodpeckers
  • Genus Picoides pied woodpeckers
  • Species Picoides scalaris ladder-backed woodpecker