Melanerpes uropygialis

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

The Gila woodpecker is found in a wide variety of lowland and middle elevation habitats which consists of saguaro cacti to open forest . In New Mexico, however, it is found in lower woodlands, especially cottonwoods, and along stream courses . It feeds on insects and fruits, and at times it catches flies. The nest is a hole excavated in a tree , typically in a cottonwood limb fairly high above the ground . They generally lay three to five white eggs with the size averaging one inch in length .[1]

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Vegetation: arid lowland scrubs, arid montane scrubs, tropical deciduous forests, gallery forests, arid lowland scrubs, second-growth scrub, tropical lowland evergreen forest, second-growth forests and woodlands • Maximum Elevation: 1,550 meters • Foraging Strata: Canopy • Center of Abundance: Lower subtropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; subtropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbance: Medium

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,793 meters (0 to 9,163 feet).[2]

Ecology: List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.5     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     1.6     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland   
  
•     3     Shrubland   
  
•     3.5     Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     3.7     Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.3     Artificial/Terrestrial - Plantations   
  
•     14.4     Artificial/Terrestrial - Rural Gardens   
  
•     14.5     Artificial/Terrestrial - Urban Areas   
[more info]

Biology

Diet

Mostly: Insects Fruit Nuts Eggs .

Reproduction

Nest Type : Cavity Clutch Size: 3-4 Length of Incubation : 12-14 days Number of Broods: 2-3, if food abundant

Migration

Permanent resident

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Melanerpes uropygialis (Baird • Melanerpes uropygialis (Baird, 1854) • Melanerpes uropygialis (S. F. Baird, 1854)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 27-Dec-2005

Similar Species

No similar species overlap in range. Red-bellied Woodpecker similar but both sexes have extensive red on the head and nape, and paler underparts. Golden-fronted Woodpecker shows yellow on the head, is paler below and has dark, unmarked, central retricies.

Members of the genus Melanerpes

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 42 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. aurifrons (Golden-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. aurifrons aurifrons (Golden-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. aurifrons insulanus (Golden-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. cactorum (White-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. candidus (White Woodpecker) · M. carolinus (Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. carolinus carolinus (Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. chrysauchen (Golden-Naped Woodpecker) · M. chrysauchen chrysauchen (Golden-Naped Woodpecker) · M. chrysogenys (Golden-Cheeked Woodpecker) · M. chrysogenys chrysogenys (Golden-Cheeked Woodpecker) · M. cruentatus (Tellow-Tufted Woodpecker) · M. cruentatus cruentatus (Yellow Tufted Woodpecker) · M. erythrocephalus (Tricolored Woodpecker) · M. erythrocephalus caurinus (Red-Headed Woodpecker) · M. erythrocephalus erythrocephalus (Red-Headed Woodpecker) · M. flavifrons (Yellow-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus (Narrow-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus angustifrons (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus bairdi (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus formicivorus (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus lineatus (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus martirensis (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. herminieri (Guadeloupe Woodpecker) · M. hoffmanni (Hoffmann's Woodpecker) · M. hoffmannii (Hoffmann's Woodpecker) · M. hypopolius (Gray-Breasted Woodpecker) · M. lewis (Lewis's Woodpecker) · M. portoricensis (Puerto Rican Woodpecker) · M. pucherani (Black-Cheeked Woodpecker) · M. pulcher (Beautiful Woodpecker) · M. pygmaeus (Red-Vented Woodpecker) · M. pygmaeus pygmaeus (Red-Vented Woodpecker) · M. radiolatus (Jamaican Woodpecker) · M. rubricapillus (Red-Crowned Woodpecker) · M. rubricapillus rubricapillus (Red-Crowned Woodpecker) · M. striatus (Hispaniolan Woodpecker) · M. superciliaris (West Indian Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. superciliaris superciliaris (West Indian Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. uropygialis (Brewster's Woodpecker) · M. uropygialis brewsteri (Gila Woodpecker) · M. uropygialis uropygialis (Gila Woodpecker)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A distributional list of the birds of Arizona / Hollywood, Calif.: Cooper Ornithological Club, 1914. url .
• Biologia centrali-americana: Aves / [London: R.H. Porter], 1879-1904. url , .
• Bird migration in the Mississippi Valley / by W.W. Cooke and Otto Widman [i.e. Widmann] [Chicago?]: The American Field, 1883. url p. 42.
• Bird notes afield; a series of essays on the birds of California, by Charles A. Keeler. San Francisco, D.P. Elder & M. Shepard, 1899. url p. 293.
• Birds of California; an introduction to more than three hundred common birds of the state and adjacent islands, with a supplementary list of rare migrants, accidental visitants, and hypothetical subspecies, Chicago, A.C. McClurg, 1916. url .
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 299, p. 7, p. 95, p. 97.
• Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. New YorkAmerican Museum of Natural History1881- url p. 36.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 107, p. 107, p. 109.
• Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Los Angeles, Calif.: The Academy, 1971- url p. 129.
• California fish and game. [San Francisco, etc.]: State of California, Resources Agency, Dept. of Fish and Game. url p. 126.
• Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. by Charles B. Cory. 13 1919 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1919. url p. 425.
• Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. London, 1874-98. url p. 182, p. 569.
• Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum / By E. W. Oates [and afterwards] by S. G. Reid [and] W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. London, 1901-12. url p. 147.
• Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum (Natural History) London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1901-12. url p. 147.
• Check-list of North American birds, New York, American Ornithologists' Union, 1895. url .
• Check-list of North American birds: the species of birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands / prepared by the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Orni Lawrence, Kan.: American Ornithologists' Union, 1983. url p. 385, p. 386.
• Collected writings on mammals. [v.p.]1870-1908. url p. 36.
• Crustacea of Lake Titicaca. Cambridge, the Museum, 1876 url p. 355.
• Eggs of North American birds; by Chas. J. Maynard. Illustrated with ten hand-colored plates. Boston, De Wolfe, Fiske & co., 1890. url p. 75.
• Genera insectorum / publiés par P. Wytsman. Bruxelles, L. Desmet-Verteneuil [etc.]1902-1970. url p. 67.
• Handbook of birds of the western United States: including the Great Plains, Great Basin, Pacific Slope, and lower Rio Grande Valley / by Florence Merriam Bailey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1915, c1902. url p. 219.
• Journal of morphology. Boston: Ginn & Co., [1887-1924] url p. 271.
• Land birds of the Pacific district / by Lyman Belding. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences, 1890. url p. 72.
• Land birds of the Pacific district, San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, 1890. url .
• Life histories of North American birds, from the parrots to the grackles with special reference to their breeding habits and eggs / by Charles Bendire. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1895. url .
• Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 13 1984 San Diego, Calif.: The Society, 1931-1989. url p. 239.
• Nests and eggs of North American birds, Philadelphia, D. McKay[c1900] url .
• New Mallophaga, 3. Comprising: Mallophaga from birds of Panama, Baja California and Alaska. San FranciscoCalifornia Academy of Sciences1899 url p. 51.
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url p. 11, p. 50.
• Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences, url p. 46, p. 51, p. 72.
• Our native birds of song and beauty, being a complete history of all the songbirds, flycatchers, hummingbirds, swifts, goatsuckers, woodpeckers, kingfishers, trogons, cuckoos, and parrots, of North America. Milwaukee, G. Brumder, 1893-96. url .
• Pacific coast avifauna / Cooper Ornithnological Club of California. Santa Clara, Calif.: The Club, 1900-1974. url p. 39, p. 39, p. 82.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 116, p. 116.
• Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society url p. 580, p. 590, p. 606.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 19, p. 19, p. 507.
• Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, The Academy. url p. 287.
• Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Washington, etc.: Entomological Society of Washington url p. 253, p. 49.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 13 1890 Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 137, p. 355, p. 77, p. 785, p. 92.
• Psyche. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Entomological Club url p. 19.
• Publication. Field Museum of Natural History. Chicago, U.S.A.: The Museum, 1910-1943. url p. 425.
• Smithsonian contributions to knowledge. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1848-1916. url , p. 127.
• Special bulletin / Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1892- url , p. 127.
• Syllogeus. Ottawa, National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1972-1995. url p. 22.
• The Auk. Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union, etc., 1884- url p. 134, p. 138, p. 419, p. 428.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. url p. 114.
• The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah: M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, 1939-1999. url p. 765, p. 767.
• The Oo?logist for the student of birds, their nests and eggs. Albion, N.Y.: Frank H. Lattin, 1886- url p. 258.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. 39 1958 [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. url p. 515.
• The Warbler. Floral Park: Mayflower Pub. Co., [1903-1913] url p. 84.
• The birds of North and Middle America: a descriptive catalogue of the higher groups, genera, species, and subspecies of birds known to occur in North America, from the Arctic lands to the Isthmus of Panama, the West Indies and other island Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1901- url , .
• The code of nomenclature and check-list of North American birds adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union; being the report of the Committee of the Union on Classification and Nomenclature. New York, 1886. url p. 217, p. 217, p. 217.
• The oist. Albion, N.Y.: Frank H. Lattin, 1886-1941. url p. 258.
• The standard catalogue of North American birds eggs. Albion, N.Y., F.H. Lattin, 1892. url p. 27.
• The woodpeckers, by Fannie Hardy Eckstorm. Boston andHoughton, Mifflin and company, 1901. url p. 125.
• The woodpeckers. Boston: Houghton, 1901. url p. 125.
• Transactions of the. .. annual meetings of the Kansas Academy of Science. Topeka, Kan.: Kansas Pub. House, 1883-1901. url p. 220.
• Zoe:a biological journal. 1 1890 San Diego, Calif. [etc.]Zoe Publishing Co. url p. 299.
• [Collected reprints, 1895-1916. s.l., s.n., 19--] url .
• [Forestry reports] Washington, 1893-1910 url .

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• BirdLife International 2004. Melanerpes uropygialis. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 21 October 2006.
• BirdLife International 2009. Melanerpes uropygialis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 02February2012.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 29, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 6 providers.
• Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• New Mexico Wildlife. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Version of April 24, 2009.
• Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

• Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
• Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
• Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 11421
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-686087
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 2496811
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 178184
• IUCN ID: 222357
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNYF04154
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 13936

Footnotes

1. New Mexico Wildlife. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Version of April 24, 2009. [back]
2. Mean = 940.630 meters (3,086.056 feet), Standard Deviation = 433.200 based on 10,654 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.