Picoides dorsalis

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Piciformes

Familia: Picidae
Subfamilia: Picinae
Genus: Picoides
Species: Picoides dorsalis
Subspecies P. d. bacatus - P. d. dorsalis - P. d. fasciatus
Name

Picoides dorsalis S.F. Baird, 1858
References

Report of explorations and surveys to ascertain the most practical and economical route for a railroad from the Mississiippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Birds 9 p.xxviii,97,100
Vernacular names
Deutsch: Fichtenspecht
English: American Three-toed Woodpecker
español: Pico tridáctilo americano
français: Pic à dos rayé
Nederlands: Amerikaanse drieteenspecht
پنجابی: پکوایڈس ڈورسالس
svenska: Vedspett

The American three-toed woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis) is a medium-sized woodpecker (family Picidae), which is native to North America.
Description

This woodpecker has a length of 21 cm (8.3 in), a wingspan of 38 cm (15 in), and an average weight of 55 g (1.9 oz); its maximum lifespan in the wild is 6 years.[3] It closely resembles the black-backed woodpecker, which is also three-toed. Until recently, it was considered to be the same species as the Eurasian three-toed woodpecker, P. tridactylus.[4] Adults are black on the head, wings and rump, and white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. The back is white with black bars and the tail is black with the white outer feathers barred with black. The adult male has a yellow cap.
Breeding

The breeding habitat is coniferous forests across western Canada, Alaska and the western and extreme northeastern United States. It has also been seen in Michigan's upper peninsula,[5] and has been recorded breeding in the extreme north of Wisconsin and Minnesota on extremely rare occasions.[6] The female lays 3 to 7 but most often 4 eggs in a nest cavity in a dead conifer or sometimes a live tree or pole. The pair excavates a new nest each year. Three-toed woodpeckers rely on disturbed, old-growth forests and are strongly associated with active spruce beetle infestations, with beetle-infested trees being important for the woodpeckers and other species that depend on the cavities they excavate.[7]
Movements and foraging

This bird is normally a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south and birds at high elevations may move to lower levels in winter. Three-toed woodpeckers forage on conifers in search of wood-boring beetle larvae or other insects. They may also eat fruit and tree sap. These birds often move into areas with large numbers of insect-infested trees, often following a forest fire or flooding. This bird is likely to give way to the black-backed woodpecker where the two species compete for habitat.
Subspecies

Picoides dorsalis dorsalis, nominate Western race.
Picoides dorsalis fasciatus, Rocky Mountain race.

Notes

IUCN (the source of status and spatial data of ranges in these maps) does not recognize P. (tridactylus) dorsalis as separate species.[2]

References

BirdLife International. (2016). "Picoides tridactylus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22727137A87304270. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22727137A87304270.en.
BirdLife International and NatureServe (2014) Bird Species Distribution Maps of the World. 2014. Picoides tridactylus. In: IUCN 2014. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". Archived from the original on 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2014-06-27.. Downloaded on 26 May 2015.
Wasser, D. E.; Sherman, P. W. (2010). "Avian longevities and their interpretation under evolutionary theories of senescence". Journal of Zoology. 280 (2): 103. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00671.x.
Zink, Robert M.; Rohwer, Sievert; Andreev, Alexander V.; Dittman, Donna (July 1995). "Trans-Beringia comparisons of mitochondrial DNA differentiation in birds" (PDF). Condor. 97 (3): 639–649. doi:10.2307/1369173. JSTOR 1369173.
"American Three-toed Woodpecker | Michigan Bird Records Committee". mibirdrecords.com. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
Burdett, Christopher L.; Niemi, Gerald R. (2002). "Conservation Assessment for Three-toed Woodpecker" (PDF). United States Forest Service: 1–26.
Kelly, J.J.; Latif, Q.S.; Saab, V.A.; Veblen, T.T. (2019). "Spruce Beetle outbreaks guide American Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides dorsalis occupancy patterns in subalpine forests". Ibis. 161 (2): 172–183. doi:10.1111/ibi.12596.