Lewis's woodpecker Melanerpes lewis

Identification Tips:

• Sexes similar
• Fairly large, dark, woodpecker
• Flies with slow, steady crow-like wingbeats

Adult:

• Dark bronze-green head, back, upperwings, rump, and uppertail
• Gray collar and upper breast
• Deep red face
• Pink belly

Juvenile:

• Bronze-green upperparts
• Brownish head and chest (with faint barring)
• Pink belly

Similar species:

Wholly dark plumage sets this woodpecker apart from all others. No other woodpecker in the U.S.A. has wings that are entirely solid in color. This and its distinctive crow-like flaps, which contrast markedly with the undulating flight of other woodpeckers, render it easily identifiable at a great distance.