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Dryobates arizonae

(Hargitt, 1886)

Arizona Woodpecker

G5Secure Found in 13 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Arizona Woodpecker (Dryobates arizonae). Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain (U.S. Government Work), via ECOS.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102075
Element CodeABNYF07100
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPiciformes
FamilyPicidae
GenusDryobates
Synonyms
Picoides arizonae(Hargitt, 1886)
Other Common Names
Carpintero de Arizona (ES) Pic d'Arizona (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117:847-858
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly (AOU 1983, 1998) placed in Picoides. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (Weibel and Moore 2002a, 2002b;Winkler et al. 2014; Fuchs and Pons 2015; and Shakya et al. 2017) have shown that the genus Picoides is polyphyletic (AOU 2018).

Formerly included within D. stricklandi, but split from that species on the basis of differences in morphology, behavior, and habitat (AOU 2000, Johnson et al. 1999, Ligon 1968, Davis 1965).
Conservation Status
Review Date2000-09-12
Change Date2000-09-12
Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
Uncommon to common over long, narrow range. Habitat loss and fragmentation in Mexico may be having deleterious impacts.
Range Extent Comments
RESIDENT: southeastern Arizona and extreme southwestern New Mexico south in Sierra Madre Occidental to Jalisco and northern and eastcentral Michoacan (AOU 2000, 1998).
Threat Impact Comments
Habitat fragmentation in Mexico (logging, rural development) may impact this species. Sycamore trees are important during breeding, and lower water tables and heavy grazing of riparian zones will reduce sycamore recruitment (Johnson et al. 1999).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Medium-sized brown-and-white woodpecker; upperparts mainly solid brown, underparts white with variable brown speckling or spotting. Head white with broad brown bands; male has red patch on occiput (Johnson et al. 1999).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from P. STRICKLANDI in the following characters: distinctly longer bill, upperparts paler, spotted (rather than streaked) breast and sides, and black outer tail feathers barred with white (rather than all white) (Johnson et al. 1999).

Habitat

Open, arid to semihumid oak (especially evergreen oak) or oak-pine woodlands and their associated riparian areas (primarily sycamore-walnut woodlands), in mountains and canyons (upper Subtropical and Temperate zones, most often 1500 to 1700 m elevation) (Johnson et al. 1999, Howell and Webb 1995, AOU 1983). BREEDING: Digs a nest cavity usually in dead wood 2.5-15 m above ground. Often nests in Arizona Walnut (JUGLANS MAJOR) or Arizona Sycamore (PLATANUS WRIGHTII) trees (Johnson et al. 1999).

Ecology

Competition with other PICOIDES woodpeckers may at least partially explain restricted elevational and geographic breeding distribution (Johnson et al. 1999). Usually seen in groups of 5-15 birds but may occur singly or in pairs (Terres 1980).

Reproduction

Breeding begins in mid-April in Arizona. Both sexes incubate 2-4 eggs. Nestlings altricial; leave nest at 24-27 days; typically beginning in mid- to late June in southern Arizona (Johnson et al. 1999).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - Mixed
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
ArizonaS3Yes
New MexicoS2B,S2NYes
Roadless Areas (13)
Arizona (12)
AreaForestAcres
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
GaliuroCoronado National Forest28,333
Happy ValleyCoronado National Forest7,972
Lower RinconCoronado National Forest3,278
Middle Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest10,543
Oracle RoadlessCoronado National Forest22,365
PinalenoCoronado National Forest130,920
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
Upper Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest2,533
Upper Rincon RoadlessCoronado National Forest2,991
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
References (30)
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  4. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Banks, R.C., C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., J. A. Rising, and D. F. Stotz. 2003. Forty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 120(3):923-931.
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