Lewis's Woodpecker

Lewis's Woodpecker departs from the typical black-and-white woodpecker template, showing an iridescent greenish-black back, a dark red face, a pale gray collar and breast, and a pinkish wash on the belly. Its flight and foraging style are also unusual, often flying out from a perch to catch insects on the wing in a crow-like, buoyant flight.

Named for explorer Meriwether Lewis, it favors open pine and oak woodland, burned forest, and riparian cottonwood groves across the western United States.

• Back and wings: dark, glossy greenish-black with iridescent sheen in good light
• Face: dark red, unlike the red crown patches of most other woodpeckers
• Collar and breast: pale gray band across the upper chest
• Belly: pinkish-gray wash, unusual coloring for a woodpecker
• Vs. Acorn Woodpecker: Lewis's lacks the crisp black-and-white clown face and pale eye of Acorn Woodpecker, instead showing a dark red face and duller, glossier body tones

Sexes look alike, both showing the same greenish-black back, dark red face, gray collar, and pinkish belly. Juveniles lack the red face and pink belly wash, appearing browner and duller until their first complete molt. It undergoes a single annual molt after breeding.

Breeds in open pine woodland, oak savanna, burned forest, and riparian cottonwood stands across the interior western United States and adjacent Canada, wintering at lower elevations or farther south depending on food availability. Its distribution can be irregular, tracking insect abundance and mast crops.

Forages unusually for a woodpecker, sallying out from an exposed perch to catch flying insects in mid-air with crow-like wingbeats, and also gleans insects from bark and eats acorns and other mast in fall and winter. It nests in cavities in dead or dying trees, often reusing existing holes rather than excavating extensively. Its calls are relatively quiet compared to other woodpeckers, including soft chattering notes, and it drums infrequently.