Ladder-backed woodpecker Picoides scalaris

Identification Tips:

• Small black and white woodpecker
• Mostly white head
• Black triangular border to white auriculars
• Buffy white throat, breast, and belly
• Black spotting on sides of breast and flanks
• Black back barred with white extends to nape
• Black wings with white spotting on coverts and flight feathers
• Black rump
• Black tail with white outer tail feathers barred with black

Adult male:

• Red crown and hindneck
• Black forehead

Adult female:

• Black forehead, crown, cap, and hindneck

Similar species:

Nuttall's Woodpecker has black auriculars bordered by white, a cleaner white breast, and less spotting on the flanks. Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers have solid white backs and lack the spotting on the breast and flanks. Hyrbids are known with Nuttall's Woodpecker, so identify these species with caution in the narrow zone of overlap.