Species Name: Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis)

Length: 9.25 inches

Description: Mostly pale with heavy black-and-white barring on back and wings. Barring extends onto rump and tail. Males have small red cap on crown of head. Largish black bill. Dark eye set off in pale buff face. Large white wing patches obvious in flight.

Range: A bird of the Sonoran Desert, occurring in the southern half of Arizona, extreme southeastern California, and extreme southwestern New Mexico, all of Baja California, and the western parts of Mexico.

Behavior: Conspicuous throughout range. Found on utility poles, Saguaro cacti, cottonwood trees, etc. Noisy - makes raucous calls when arriving at new location. Perches vertically and clings to sides of poles, cacti, and trees, bracing with stiff tail feathers.

Responsible for nesting cavities in cacti and trees used by many other desert species. Nest cavities in Saguaros benefit from heavy insulating ability of cactus to keep daytime nest temperatures much cooler than ambient temperatures and keepinig the cavity warmer on cool nights.

Related or Similar Species: Closely related to Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) of eastern United States and Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) of Texas, but range does not overlap with either. Northern Flicker and Gilded Flicker are similar in appearance, but larger, browner overall with distinctive spotting on the underparts and a prominent white rump, and lacking in the white wing patches.

Identification: Unmistakable in range.

Advice on Finding and Photographing: Can be found anywhere in range. Look especially in scrub desert with Saguaro cacti. Often heard at distance before seen. Can be photographed coming to and going from nest cavity, but keep sufficient distance to avoid keeping parents away from tending the young. Nest cavities are often high above ground and require long lenses and appropriate distance to avoid steep shooting angles.

Editor's Comment: Let us know what you think! Please email the Editor to let us know your thoughts.

Richard Ditch been looking at birds and taking their photographs since the early 1970's, when he caught the "birding bug" from a friend at work. He was very active as a birder when he lived in New Jersey (1970-1994), maintaining lists of all the birds he saw each year in the state and elsewhere. Rich was a volunteer and field trip leader at the Owl Haven Nature Center (part of the New Jersey Audubon Society) and was a member of the Board of Directors for many years, along with being a frequent contributor to their quarterly magazine and to Records of New Jersey Birds. After moving to Phoenix, AZ in 1994 as a result of a job change, he found the birds to be a lot different and went through a rapid period of learning new species and new forms of species East. Richard is also a very active Member of our PhotoMigrations community and is a regular contributor to our forums. Please feel free to email him and be sure to visit his website located at: Birds in Nature - Images of Wild Birds.