[obol] Black-backed and/or Three-toed Woodpeckers

[Jamie S.]

Dave,
   
  Very cool!  It sounds to me like you observed individuals of each of those 2 species.  Jeff Harding, Joel Geier and I observed them in very close proximity, sort of a feeding flock of several birds if I remember correctly, near Santiam Pass in July 2006.  
   
  Jamie Simmons
  Corvallis
   
  ....................................
  Dave wrote:
   
  Subject: Black-backed and/or Three-toed Woodpeckers
From: Dave Mellinger <David.Mellinger AT oregonstate.edu>
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:08:16 -0800


Saturday at Big Lake near Santiam Pass, two woodpeckers flew up to a tree   within 10-15 seconds of each other and worked the tree. One had a solid black   back, the other a heavily barred back. Neither had any color on its cap that I   could see, though I was looking upwards at them and it's possible I missed   something there. Both had all-black wings when perched, as well as white chins,   throats, and breasts. The totally black back on one was readily apparent -- it   moved around the tree so I got to see it from many angles -- as was the obvious   barring on the back of other. Both had some barring on the sides. When they   left this tree they flew off within a few seconds of each other, and in the   same direction.       I'm not very familiar with Black-backed and Three-toed Woodpeckers, and didn't   have a bird book at the time (shame!). I thought I was seeing male and female   Black-backeds, with the male missing its colorful crown because it's late   autumn now.
 The white breasts and all-black wings would rule out sapsuckers.   After getting to a bird book, I found that female Black-backeds do indeed have   solid black backs, so the one with the barred back was apparently a Three-toed.   Is that likely? Do these species forage together? Are there any juvenal fall   forms of either of these that I might have mistaken one for? Any other ideas?       Dave  

       
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