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Leuconotopicus arizonae

(Hargitt, E, 1886)

Arizona Woodpecker

G5Secure Found in 7 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
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
GenusLeuconotopicus
Synonyms
Dryobates arizonae(Hargitt, 1886)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
This species is placed in Leuconotopicus following AviList (2025). Dryobates sensu lato is treated as three polytypic genera (Dryobates, Leuconotopicus, and Veniliornis) based on genetic evidence (Shakya et al. 2017). Multilocus DNA data indicate the presence of three divergent clades and their treatment as genera better accommodates the morphological disparity that would be encompassed within an expanded Dryobates (AviList 2025, Johnson et al. 2025).

Formerly included within Dryobates 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
New MexicoS2B,S2NYes
ArizonaS3Yes
Roadless Areas (7)
Arizona (6)
AreaForestAcres
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
ChiricahuaCoronado National Forest76,876
GaliuroCoronado National Forest28,333
Middle Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest10,543
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
References (33)
  1. American Ornithological Society (AOS). Chesser, R.T., K.J. Burns, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., D.F. Stotz, B.M. Winger, and K. Winker. 2018. Fifty-ninth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 135:798–813.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117:847-858
  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.
  5. AviList Core Team. 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025
  6. Belson, M. S. 1998. Red-headed Woodpecker (<i>Melanerpes erythrocephalus</i>) use of habitat at Wekiwa Springs State Park, Florida. M.Sc. thesis, Univ. of Cnetral Florida, Orlando.
  7. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
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  11. Dixon, R. D. 1995a. Density, nest-site and roost-site characteristics, home-range, habitat-use, and behavior of white-headed woodpeckers. Deschutes and Winema National Forests, Oregon. Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Nongame Report 93-3-01.
  12. Dixon, R. D. 1995b. Ecology of White-headed woodpeckers in the central Oregon Cascades. M. Sc. thesis, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID.
  13. Dixon, R. D., and V. A. Saab. 2000. Black-backed Woodpecker (<i>Picoides arcticus</i>). No. 509 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 20pp.
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  15. Goggans, R., R. D. Dixon and L. C. Seminara. 1988. Habitat use by Three-toed and Black-backed woodpeckers, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife - Nongame Wildlife Program Report 87-3-02. 43pp.
  16. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  17. Husak, M. S. 1997. Seasonal variation in territorial behavior of the Golden-fronted Woodpecker. M.Sc. thesis, Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas.
  18. Ingold, D.J. 1991. Nest-site fidelity in Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Wilson Bulletin 103(1):118.
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  20. Johnson, R. R., L. T. Haight, J. D. Ligon, and P. Pyle. 2025. Arizona Woodpecker (<i>Leuconotopicus arizonae</i>), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald and S. M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ariwoo.01.1
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  23. Lisi, G. 1988. A field study of Black-backed Woodpeckers in Vermont. Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Nongame and Endangered Species Program, Technical Report 3.
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  25. Moskovits, D. 1978. Winter territorial and foraging behavior of Red-headed Woodpecker in Florida. Wilson Bulletin 90:521-535.
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  33. Williams, J. B., and G. O. Batzli. 1979. Competition among bark-foraging birds in central Illinois: experimental evidence. Condor 81:122-132.