Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!
Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!
Arizona Woodpecker and the Sierra Madre
The Arizona Woodpecker has a special relationship to Mexico.
© Mick Thompson
Found in the Sierra Madre, the Arizona Woodpecker has a special connection to the mountain range. Sharing mid-elevation pine and oaks with fellow border straddlers, these small brown birds with white and brown cheeks stand out from other Woodpeckers with their heavily marked white underparts. Uniquely, they forage by flying to the base of a tree and then spiraling up the trunk. And in courtship, the male turns himself into a paper airplane, holding his wings steady and gliding toward his mate.
BirdNote®
Arizona Woodpecker and the Sierra Madre
Written by Bob Sundstrom
Ariana Remmel: This is BirdNote.
The mountains ranging from Mexico into southeastern Arizona are home to some delightful species of birds.
Here’s one: the Arizona Woodpecker.
[Arizona Woodpecker drum]
Found in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range in Mexico, their habitats stretch north into smaller ranges like the Chiricahuas and Huachucas in the U.S.
[Arizona Woodpecker drum]
They share the mid-elevation pines and oaks with other border straddlers like Elegant Trogons and Blue-throated Hummingbirds.
[Elegant Trogon call]
Arizona Woodpeckers are brown overall with a white and brown cheek and heavily marked white underparts—unlike the black and white plumages typical of other North American woodpeckers.
[Arizona Woodpecker rattle]
These small woodpeckers forage by flying to the base of a tree and then spiraling up the trunk.
[Arizona Woodpecker call notes]
As a male carves out a nest cavity, he gives the female a progress report with a gliding flight display. In this quirky courtship behavior, the male turns himself into a paper airplane, holding his wings steady and gliding toward his mate. He taps on the nest tree to show off the excavation.
[Arizona Woodpecker call]
It’s an unusual use for a small bird’s wings, but it helps Arizona Woodpeckers garner the attention their newly carved homes deserve.
[Arizona Woodpecker call]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
###
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Arizona Woodpecker ML298096961 recorded by Rose Ann Rowlett, Elegant Trogon ML109015 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller, and Arizona Woodpecker ML325871381 recorded by Laura Gooch.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote August 2023
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# ARWO-01-2023-08-25 ARWO-01
References:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Arizona_Woodpecker
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/ariwoo/cur/introduction
