Coraciiformes and Piciformes

Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae: KingfishersField Marks:• Small to medium-sized• Short necks and tails• Small feet• Large heads with long, strong bills• Most boldly colored with blues or greens, and orange

or red• Weak feet with syndactyl toes

Sex: Dimorphic

Habitat: Forests, scrub, and aquatic habitats

Life History:• Eat a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate prey• Many specialize in catching fish by plunge-diving• Defend territories year-round• Monogamous for life• Some species migrate• Among oldest on record: 14 yrs 10 mos

Distribution:• 95 species in 17 genera worldwide, except polar

regions• 3 species in 2 genera in North America

Order:Coraciiformes

Alcedinidae

Piciformes: Picidae: WoodpeckersField Marks:• Medium-sized birds with zygodactyl feet• Chisel-shaped bill• Vertical posture• Rounded wings• Characteristic undulating flight pattern

Sex: Dimorphic

Habitat: Primarily wooded areas

Life History:• Eat mainly insects, but also fruit, seeds, and sap• Typically use bill to drill into wood to find food• Most territorial and monogamous• Some are migratory• Among oldest on record: 16 yrs

Distribution:• 217 species in 28 genera worldwide• 22 species in 5 genera breed in North America (plus

Ivory-billed!)

Order:Piciformes

Picidae

Order: CoraciiformesFamily: Alcedinidae

Field Marks: • Stocky, with large head• Uniformly blue-gray upperparts, and primarily white

underparts• Large, ragged, double-pointed crest• Nearly complete white collar• Blue-gray breast band

Sex:• Males have a single blue-gray breast band• Females have rufous sides and a rufous lower breast

band, in addition to the blue-gray breast band

Habitat: Streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA

Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon

©Photo by Ann Cook

Female

Long, uneven rattle, or a musical, rapid trill:

tirrr

Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon

©Photo by Ann Cook

Female

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Plumage black overall, with white head and wing

patch

Sex: Males have red cap

Habitat: Coniferous forests

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Pine seeds are a critical food source

White-headed Woodpecker Picoides albolarvatus

©Photos by Bob Steele

Male

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Large and “crow-sized”• Plumage blackish overall• Red crest• White line from bill across cheek and down neck• White patch on upperwing, and white wing lining

Sex:• Males have red crest extending forward to bill, and red

malar stripe• Females crest does not reach bill, and no malar stripe

Habitat: • Old, primarily coniferous forests, with large, dead

trees

Life History:• Occurs year-round in northern CA

Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus

©Photo by www.arttoday.com

Female

Male

Male

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Black upperparts with white wing and rump patches• Red crown with white forehead and throat

Sex:• Males have a full red crown that meets the white

forehead• Females have a partial red crown, with a black patch

separating it from the white forehead

Habitat: Oak and riparian woodlands

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Store acorns in communal granaries and

cooperatively raise young

Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus

Male

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Male

Raucous laughing; a nasal wheka wheka…. or RACK-up RACK-up

Also, nasal, trilled ddddrridrr or ddrreeerr

Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus

Male

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Upperparts grayish-brown with irregular dark brown

bars• Buffy underparts with large black spots• Crescent-shaped black breast patch• White rump• Underside of wing and tail reddish (in western

subspecies)

Sex:• Females have plain gray face• Males have gray face with red malar stripe

Habitat: • Riparian and oak woodlands, coniferous forests

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus

Male

©Photos by Peter LaTourrette

Female

High piercing, clear Keer

Soft, lilting:wik-a-wik-a-wik-a-…….

Long, strong, low-pitched series:kwikwikwik….

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus

Male

©Photos by Peter LaTourrette

Female

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Red head, nape, and breast• White line from bill toward nape• Black back with white spots• Large white wing patch• Yellow abdomen

Sex: Monomorphic

Habitat: Coniferous forests and riparian woodland

Life History:• Occurs year-round in northern CA, but winters

throughout• Drill sap wells through the bark of trees and feed on

the sap

Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber

©Photo by Peter LaTourrette

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Greenish-black upperparts with wide gray collar and

upper breast• Dark red face, and pinkish lower breast and abdomen

Sex: Monomorphic

Habitat: Riparian and oak woodland

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA

Lewis’s Woodpecker Melanerpes lewis

©Photo by Steve Messick

©Photo by Peter LaTourrette

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Male

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Small, with primarily black upperparts primarily black• White head stripes, spots on wings, and along center

of back• Underparts whitish• Short, stubby bill is shorter than head

Sex: Male has red nape patch

Habitat: Riparian woodland

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• The smallest North American woodpecker• Name refers to the “downy” strip of white feathers

down the back

Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Male

Slow rattle, beginning slow and squeaky, ending lower, faster

varies from kikikikiki…

to slow twi twi twi…

Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Small, with primarily black upperparts primarily black• White head stripes, spots on wings, and along center

of back• Underparts whitish• Larger, heavier bill is almost same length as head

Sex: Male has red nape patch

Habitat: Coniferous forests

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Name refers to long, filamentous white feathers down

the back

Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus

Female

Male

©Photos by Peter LaTourrette

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Small, with black and white striped upperparts• Underparts whitish with spots and streaks on flanks

and undertail• Broad black eye line and malar stripes that join at the

back• Supercilium and auricular region whitish• Outer rectrices barred black

Sex:• Male has red crown that may extend forward of the

eye

Habitat: Desert scrub and desert riparian woodland

Life History:• Occurs year-round in southeastern CA

Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Male

Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae

Field Marks: • Small, with black and white striped upperparts• Upper back entirely black (no striping)• Underparts whitish with spots and streaks on flanks

and undertail• Broad black eye line and malar stripes that join at the

back• Narrow whitish supercilium and auricular region• Outer rectrices spotted black

Sex:• Male has red crown that does not extend past the eye

Habitat: Oak and riparian woodlands

Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Range almost entirely within CA

Nuttall’s Woodpecker Picoides nuttallii

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Male

Sharp, rising, two- or three-note pitik

Level and steady rattle call:pitikikik…

Nuttall’s Woodpecker Picoides nuttallii

©Photos by Bob Steele

Female

Male