Gila woodpecker
Melanerpes uropygialis
Identification Tips:
- Medium-sized woodpecker
- Tan head, throat, breast, and belly
- Back strongly barred with black and white
- Black wings barred and spotted with white
- White bases to the primaries appear as white crescent in the hand
in flight
- White rump and uppertail coverts with sparse dark barring
- Dark tail with barred central tail feathers
Adult male:
- Small, red cap on top of head
Similar species:
No similar species overlap in range. Red-bellied Woodpecker
similar but both sexes have extensive red on the head and nape, and
paler underparts. Golden-fronted Woodpecker shows yellow on the
head, is
paler below and has dark, unmarked, central retricies.